Trial of the Hearts
by Team WhiteCap
Summary: A collaboration between Captainkodak1 and whitem. Can't say much, but let's say that the future of Kim and Ron is not quite what they expected it to be... Final Chapter posted...
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! whitem here… A while back I had an idea for a new story, and posted it at the end of one of my more popular stories. Well, Captainkodak1 fired off a note to me, and said he had something in the works pretty close to the same thing. After emailing back and forth, we decided to collaborate and combine each other's notes, and this story is what came about. Each one of us are going to write a chapter, one after the other, until we are done.

I hope y'all enjoy! So without further delay…

Disclaimer first: Neither of us owns the characters we are about to use, nor are we associated with Disney in any way.

Trial of the Hearts

The infamous Barry Switch was announcing the big game between Middleton and East Side. His unique voice came across the radio as James Possible listened to a small radio on his desk. He sooo wished he could be there to see the game, but a Wind Watch was issued for the space center, and he drew the short stick to stand watch that night.

James leaned forward listening intently to the last play of the game. He had a friendly bet on the game with a colleague for a bottle of soda, and he did not want to pay up, as it was a matter of pride. Especially since his Kimmie-Cub was the head cheerleader for the team.

"It's Fourth and goal to go, about 8 yards out. Five seconds are left on the clock, and Middleton has just taken their last time-out. Down by 4 points, they need a touchdown to win.

"Both first and second string quarterbacks are out of the game with various injuries, so the star Running Back and one-time Quarterback Ron Stoppable is calling the last play of the game. Here he comes from the sideline with a play that Coach Barkin apparently has just come up with. It took the entire timeout to draw it up and explain it to Stoppable. I hope this young man gets it right.

"Here we go now… The referee has just whistled the game into play, and here we go! Stoppable yells off a long count, trying to pull the defense off sides. There's only 5 seconds left on the play clock now, and the Center has finally centered the ball!

"It's on the ground! The ball is on the ground! Stoppable backed out from under Center and he missed the ball! Wait! The left guard just moved to his right and scooped the ball up and is now running with it! The entire defense is converging on his location, and now he's lateraled back to… Stoppable! Stoppable has the ball! This young man can really run!

"He's looped around and now he's heading towards the other sideline, and the entire defensive line is completely faked out! Time has now run out on the clock! He HAS to get in to the end zone!"

"Up the field Ronald! Get in there!" James yelled as he was really getting into the game, and he was now on his feet listening to the radio.

"Uh oh! Here comes East Side's star Line –Backer Derrick Masters, and the two Safeties! They're converging on Stoppable who lowers his head and slams right into them on the one-yard line! He's not going to make it!

"Wait! Stoppable bounced off the front two defenders, and has spun around heading straight for the front corner goal marker! Masters lowers his head again, and Stoppable leaps over Masters head! Holy Cow! Stoppable just cleared over the top of Masters who stands at least 6 foot 2!

"Stoppable lands on his shoulders, rolls, and stands back up with the ball still in his hands! Touchdown! Middleton Mad Dogs win! Mad Dogs win! They've beaten the East Side Panthers after a string of 4 losses in a row! This is incredible!

"The entire crowd has now emptied out onto the field, and Stoppable is now being hoisted up onto the shoulders of his teammates. This young man is just incredible! He really is un-Stoppable!"

"Yeah! Yes! Allenford, you owe me a soda!" James yelled loudly and danced around his office almost as giddy as a schoolgirl.

…x x x x…

Kim had to literally push herself through the crowd to get to her boyfriend, who had single handedly just won one of the schools biggest games, and beat one of their biggest rivals. She finally made it to his side just as the linemen set him back down on the ground.

The grin on Ron's face was huge, and when he saw Kim, it got even bigger. He immediately wrapped his arms around her shoulders, dipped her down, and gave his girlfriend a huge kiss right there on the field in front of everybody! Light bulbs flashed all over, and after a few seconds he stood back up. Kim was taken completely off guard and had a "deer in the headlights" look about her.

When she finally shook her head to clear herself, who did Kim see walking up to her, but Bonnie Rockwaller. "Your boyfriend almost cost us the game Possible! He put the ball on the ground! He fumbled! If it wasn't for that Left Guard, we would have lost the game!"

"It was a designed play, Bonnie." Ron said as he placed his arm around Kim's shoulders, holding her tight against him.

"What?" Bonnie was almost livid. "You don't design a play where the ball is intentionally fumbled. It's just not done! So stop lying, and admit you fumbled!"

"He's not lying, Rockwaller." Barkin's voice boomed just behind the brunette cheerleader "Haven't you ever heard of a 'Fumble-Roosky'?"

"A… what?" She said, her voice noticeably quieter.

"It was a term used by an announcer during a Nebraska Cornhuskers game a long time ago." He pointed a meaty finger at Bonnie. "You need to read up on football history, Rockwaller… Especially if you want to go to college on a Cheerleading scholarship."

Coach Barkin then turned towards Kim and Ron. "Speaking of which… I think there's a few recruiters who would like to talk to both of you on the sideline over there." He pointed to five men who all wore a cap of the teams they were there representing.

Ron and Kim saw that they were all schools that were powerhouses in football, and they also had tremendous academics. The five were the Michigan Wolverines, the USC Trojans, the Florida State Seminoles, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and of course, the Nebraska Cornhuskers!

Both Kim and Ron were able to shake the hands of each schools representative and had taken a business card from each. Since the next day was Saturday, it was promised to be full of doing interviews with each of the representatives.

…x x x x…

They had done interviews as both a couple and separate, and each time the interviewer was left feeling very impressed with each of the people they had interviewed. It didn't matter if they were alone, or together.

Needless to say, that evening, both teens were very, very tired. They tried to stay awake that evening after a meal made By Kim's mom by watching TV, but the day had been just too mentally draining. Kim's Mom came into the room and found them both sound asleep on the couch.

Ron was leaning back into the corner of the couch, one leg stretched out on the cushions, and the other hanging over the edge. Kim was nestled up against his side, one arm behind his back, and the other lay gently on his chest. Ron's arm was draped over her side in a protective, yet loving manner.

Anne stood there for a bit smiling at the cute scene, and picked up the half-full glasses that were sitting on the coffee table. After returning from the kitchen, she went back into the TV room, grabbed a light blanket from a nearby closet, and gently lay it over the two teens. When she lay the blanket over the two, Anne leaned over and gently kissed each of them on the forehead.

Kim didn't move or make a sound when she did so, but when she Kissed Ron, he moved a bit, and mumbled just loud enough for her to hear what he said. "Mmmm… Love you too, KP."

…x x x x…

_Beep beep be deep_

_Beep beep be deep_

Kim groaned, and brought her wrist to her other hand to press the answer button. Just before she pressed it to answer the call, she realized where she was. Curled up against Ron on the couch!

_Beep beep be deep_

Gently she moved back and off of Ron, and was able to sit down on the floor with her back against the couch. She then saw Ron move slightly as he too started to wake up. She pressed the button and answered Wade in a hushed voice.

"Hey Wade… What's the sitch?"

"Just got a call from Scotland Yard, Kim."

"England? That's new. What do they want?" Kim asked narrowing her eyes a bit, and she felt Ron lean over behind her to look at the screen. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and made her feel… comfortable.

"It looks like Shego and Junior are at it again, but this time they're after the crown jewels. The local authorities gave chase, and now have them trapped on one of the towers of Tower Bridge."

"So why do they need us?" Ron asked

"Take a look." Wade said, and the picture went to static for only a second. Then a picture came up from a nearby security camera that he had hacked into.

Both Shego and Junior could clearly be seen standing on one of the tower's walkways that stretched across the top. Junior was holding a large brown bag, supposedly with the jewels and Shego was blasting at any of the police that came near them.

"Looks like we need a ride Wade. And quick."

"Should be there in 15 guys."

"Thanks Wade, you Rock." The screen went black, and the young heroes were ready to go in 10 minutes. That left them standing out in the front yard for 5 minutes. And what do you think two teens in love found to do for 5 minutes?

…x x x x…

The pilot of the experimental Scram jet Will Du, brought the horizontal lift engines online and glanced out his window to see if his passengers were ready. He saw them standing outside waiting, but they weren't looking his way. In fact, it looked like the two had their faces glued together. The thrust of his engines were blowing dirt and leaves all around the two, but it didn't even phase them. In the interest of time, Will opted not to shut them down when he lowered the ramp for the two to enter.

He made a few checks of everything to make sure all was still in running order, and turned around to see if they had entered yet. What he saw gave him mild surprise, as both Kim and Ron were already in their seats and any baggage they had was already stored.

"I do hope you realize Miss Possible," He said with his usual air of pompous over confidence, "That your ride with me is one-way. I have to return this vehicle back to the states immediately. This is only the second international trip the plane has done, and the designers wish to check it over as soon as they can."

"That's fine with us." Kim said as she took Ron's hand. "We might stay a bit longer after we take care of business anyway."

"Hang on…" Will said, and within seconds they were heading almost straight up and into the stratosphere so they could hit Mach 20. As a result, they arrived in London in just over an hour.

They had to land on a secured military landing strip to keep prying eyes away from the jet. As soon as they stepped off, Will hit the engines again and took off back to the United States. A Police car was there to take them to the bridge, and they arrived in about 15 minutes. When they arrived, they saw one of Shego's blasts shoot out over the water.

"OK Ron… we need to get inside one of those towers, and get up on top of the same walkway they're on, and take them both out. And save the Crown Jewels too.

"That's all?" Ron said as he looked up at the imposing bridge.

"I think I have something in the trunk that will help you, love." The driver said. He got out of the car and went around to the trunk, opened it up, and pulled out two long trench coats and a couple of wide brimmed hats.

Kim and Ron put them on, and were able to walk through the crowds with no problem, and they arrived in the tower closest to them. After shucking the improvised disguises, they hoofed it to the top of the tower, and onto the walkway. Immediately they saw the hole that Shego had blasted out so they could get on top.

"Now why would they want to get on top of this thing Kim?" Ron asked sounding perplexed. "They just cornered themselves."

"I'm guessing someone is going to pick them up. Probably a helicopter, or a plane of some kind."

They crawled through the hole, and looked around. 300 feet off the water didn't bother Kim any, but Ron gulped a bit when he saw just how high up they were. He was glad he left Rufus back at Kim's house. The little guy didn't like heights much.

"Down!" Kim yelled and pushed Ron down hard. She fell on top of his back as a green blast shot over her, singing a small amount of hair. Immediately the two jumped up and separated to give Shego two targets instead of one.

Kim headed straight for Shego and expertly dodged her subsequent blasts. Ron sprinted towards Junior, who stood motionless holding the bag with one hand. He stopped a few feet in front of his target, and dropped into an offensive stance.

"The jig is up Junior. You have no where to go."

"I don't think so, Ron Stoppable. You see… we are just waiting for our ride."

"Speaking… of which… Junior… Where is it? You're the one with the remote!" Shego yelled out as she and Kim were by now exchanging punches and kicks.

"I am?" Junior said, and patted his pockets. He pulled a small controller out of his pocket no larger than a small flashlight and pressed a button. "It's coming now."

Ron couldn't believe his good fortune and took advantage of Junior's distraction. He leaped forward and snatched the bag out of Junior's hand before he could react.

"I got the jewels Kim!" Ron called out and took off towards the hole they had come through earlier. Just a few feet from his destination, Junior tackled Ron around the ankles with a flying leap, and the bag of jewels flew out of Ron's hands! "…oof!"

Ron rolled over onto his back just as he saw Junior leap into the air to land on top of him. Quickly Ron gathered his legs up and kicked out into Junior's stomach, flipping him over his head. Junior landed on his back next to the bag with a loud clang!

Junior stood with a hand to his head, and saw the bag at his feet. He then heard the sound of jet engines and looked to his left to see the Hover Jet he had called with the remote. "Shego! Our ride is here!"

"Finally!" He heard Shego say, and saw her throw another blast at Kim, who easily leaped out of the way and over her head.

Junior grabbed the bag and started to run towards the plane which by now was in a holding position above the walkway with a rope ladder extended down. Just before he could reach it, Ron caught him with a sliding kick to his ankles, tripping him up. Once again the bag containing the Crown Jewels went flying. This time it slid to the edge, and began inching over as the weight shifted inside.

Ron had a choice. Either stop Junior from getting on the plane, or save the Crown Jewels. He made his decision and ran for the bag. His eyes were locked onto the bag and he could see it inching it's way over the edge. If it fell into the river, they could be lost forever.

He was just a few feet way when it finally slid over the edge and he leaped out and caught the bag with one hand, his other one hanging onto the edge of the walkway.

…x x x x…

Kim saw Ron leap over the edge to get the Crown Jewels, and called out. "Ron!"

"I'm OK Kim… At least for now!" She heard his voice call up. She didn't dare take her eyes off of Shego.

"Well Kimmie…" Shego said with her hands flared up. "It looks like you at least have the jewels, but you're not going to get **me. **The green villainess let loose two shots just high enough to make Kim fall down to keep from being hit, and by that time Junior had climbed into the hover jet, and was now over her so Shego could grab onto the rope ladder.

With a flying leap Kim just missed grabbing onto Shego's boots, and landed back on the walk with a roll. Standing back up, Kim growled to no one as she watched the plane slowly pull away with Shego climbing up into the belly of the jet. As soon as she made it inside, the jet's forward thrust kicked in, and the two villains were gone.

"Kiimm! A little help here?" Ron's voice pulled her eyes away from the vapor trail left by the jet. She went over to the edge, dropped the line from her grappling gun, and pulled Ron back up.

"Thanks Kim." Ron said as they hugged and then they all heard the crowd below cheering. Ron held up the bag of jewels in triumph and just as a helicopter's spotlight landed on them, his pants decided to fall down. "Aww Mann!"

…x x x x…

After returning the Crown Jewels back to the authorities, Kim and Ron were given a room in one of the finer hotels nearby for the night. Just as they were getting ready for bed, the phone rang, and Kim answered.

"Yes… Yes this is Kim Possible… Really? …She wants to do what? …Really? OK then. Ron and I will be ready in the morning. Thank-you very much. Goodbye."

"What was that about Kim?" Ron asked as he stepped up behind her and started to gently massage the kinks out of her shoulders.

"Ohhh… That feels good." Kim said, enjoying Ron's ministrations. "That was just one of the Queens charges saying that we are to meet with the Queen tomorrow in a special ceremony of some sort… Oh yeah, right there… You better stop that Ron, or I won't be responsible for my actions."

"And just what might those actions be?" He said with any eyebrow raised.

Kim turned around in his arms and looked up into his eyes. She pulled his head down a bit and whispered into his ear. This was one of the few times that Ron blushed. With his mouth slightly open, Ron watched as his girlfriend sauntered towards the bed in her robe.

She bared one shoulder, and looked back at Ron over it. If Ron's jaw hadn't already hit the floor from hearing that the Queen of England wished to have an audience with them, the look that Kim just gave him did.

To be continued…

* * *

And now I bow and let me partner Captainkodak1 take the reins of the next chap...


	2. Chapter 2

**Trial of the Hearts  
Chapter II**

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The sun shone through the light curtains in her room. Stretching her arms up over her head, Kim opened her eyes. The clock on the bedside table revealed that it was 7:00 am. Rolling over she put her feet on the floor, put on her robe and stepped out of her room into the central part of the suite that she and Ron were sharing. Tiptoeing lightly across the room, she quietly pushed open the door to Ron's room. A light snoring emitted from the pile of blankets and sheets. She edged over to the side of the bed to see a foot sticking out from under the covers. Smiling she stepped back out into the central room and went to the ice bucket they left on the table. Most of the ice had melted but she slid her hands down into the frigid water. She smirked as she held them there until she almost couldn't feel them. She pulled her hands out, dried them on her robe, and walked quietly back into Ron's room. She pulled back the covers and exposing his left legs up to the edge of his boxers. She set herself for the reaction, and then grabbed his leg running her hands up his leg as far as she could reach.

"EEEEIIIIYYAAHHHHH, whOOOOwhoooOOOOOO"

Ron levitated off the bed with a bloodcurdling scream. His scream cut off when he hit the floor on the other side of the bed. A mop of blonde hair appeared over the edge of the bed to glower at his girlfriend.

"Very funny KP, it is to laugh."

Kim giggled as her best friend/boyfriend gave her an icy look.

"Come on. We need to call up some breakfast. The Embassy staff is supposed to be by later this morning to help us get ready for whatever they want us to do."

Ron stood part way up pulling the sheets around him.

"Will do Kim just as soon as you return something."

Ron pointed to the bed right in front of Kim. His boxers lay there on top of the sheets. Kim's hands had pulled them off during Ron's escape from her ice cold hands.

Kim felt the blood rush to her face. She backed up, her face getting redder the further she retreated.

"Ok, uhhh, I think I'll go call up breakfast and let you. You know."

Ron stood up quickly. Kim screeched and covered her eyes.

"RON!"

"It's ok KP you can look."

Kim slowed parted her fingers to stare at Ron. He was standing there in his boxers and t-shirt twirling the other pair of boxers.

"Whaa…" Kim asked.

Ron smiled. "I dropped these on the bed last night. I just thought turnabout was fair play."

"Oh you!" Kim growled as she advanced on Ron. She stood in front of him for a second then wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. A knock sounded at the door and the two separated. Ron put on a pair of sweat pants while Kim went and opened the door to the suite.

Mabel, the suite maid came in pushing a food cart covered in silver serving dishes.

"Breakfast is served, young miss and young sir. Ernie and I have set you up with hotcakes, bacon, fresh fruit and milk. There is butter and warm syrup to go with the hotcakes."

The wonderful smell coming from the serving dishes made Kim's mouth water. Ron held Kim's chair as she sat down, then took his seat beside her. Ernie, the suite valet, stood at the table pouring some juice into two glasses. The two teens were happy to see their two friends from their prior stay at the hotel. Ernie placed the two glasses of juice in front of the teens.

"Well now. Looks like the two of you rested well. Please eat before the hotcakes and bacon get cold."

There was another knock at the door and Ernie went to open it. A U.S. Army Major and a sharply dressed young woman entered the suite. The officer approached the table and saluted.

"Good morning Team Possible. I am Major Ian Grantham, this is Ms. Jennifer Lions. We are from the American embassy. We are here to help you get ready for your audience with the Queen this afternoon, then a formal dinner in your honor after the ceremony."

Kim and Ron looked at each other then back at the American Military officer.

"Ceremony, what ceremony?"

Major Grantham smiled. "Oh that's right, you haven't been told yet."

Alarm bells were ringing in Kim's head as she sat back in her chair.

"Told what?"

Ms. Lions motioned to the door and several people came into the room, some carried clothing bags, others small cases. She turned back to the teens.

"Well Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable. Before the dinner tonight, the two of you shall be Knighted into the Order of Bath. It is one of the highest honors that can be given to someone who is not a British citizen."

"Knighted?"

Kim and Ron glanced at each other, and then back at Ms. Lions.

"That is correct. We have brought a complete line of formal wear for the two of you as well as hair stylist and other staff to help you be ready. You parents have been notified and will watch by a direct satellite feed. They suggested what you might want to wear. Since the two of you arrived with only your mission cloths and what little extra clothing you carry, we thought it prudent to bring a few things with us."

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The grand hall was filled with dignitaries and government leaders. Historic flags of Great Britain hung from the casemented walls. It was time.

Ron presented his arm to Kim as they were escorted forward. She smiled at her BFBF; he looked as handsome as he ever had. Now they walked forward to be honored together. This was a dream come true for her. It had always been her to receive the awards. Ron just seemed to be forgotten each time. But, now he was at her side as together they moved forward to be honored. He so deserved this. No one could ever ignore the fact that he was a full partner in Team Possible.

They slowly walked forward. Kim felt like it took forever the walk the distance to the podium. Soon they stood before the Queen. The protocol officer mentioned that since they were not citizens of England, they were not required to kneel. The two of them had been given dual citizenship with their permission and the approval of their parents. Even so, the two of them felt it would be better if they knelt, just to honor the Queen and England. The two teens arrived at the end of the walkway and stood before the Queen. She stood and took the sword as it was handed to her.

"Kimberly Anne Possible, Ronald Eugene Stoppable. You have performed great deeds of bravery and service for England. These feats were done at danger to yourselves and with great sacrifice. We the people of England wish to thank you for this service. Kimberly, Ronald would you please kneel?"

The two teen knelt on the cushions provided and bowed their heads as they held hands.

The Queen stepped forward and raised the sword. As she spoke she tapped Kin and Ron on each shoulder.

"I, Queen Elizabeth of England do hereby bestow upon Kimberly Ann Possible and Ronald Eugene Stoppable the Knights Order of Bath. Rise Sir Ronald, Rise Dame Kimberly."

The Queen motioned for them to turn and face that audience as they applauded

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Kim and Ron could hear the mummer of voices as they approached the doors of the State Dining Room. She and Ron now both wore the vestments of the Order of Bath. The staff bowed as they approached the door. Other couples waited to enter the dining room watched as Team Possible passed. The men would bow and the ladies would curtsy. Kim glanced over to Ron as she maintained her hold on his arm. This was getting to be a little heady for the two teens. They arrived at the door and were ushered in by a doorman. As they entered the room, a chamberlain by the door raised the staff he held in his hands and brought it booming to the floor three times. The room became quiet as he called out.

"The Lady Dame Kimberly Possible, and Sir Ronald Stoppable."

Kim and Ron stood just inside the door as the room exploded into applause. The two teens glanced at each other as they remembered another night and another place they entered hand in hand only to be greeted by applause. They smiled to the assembled host as they were escorted to their seats.

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Kim and Ron sat at the desk that they had set up in Kim's room. There was a large storage bin that contained all papers and magazines they had appeared in. There was also a large stack of offers they were going through. The wastebasket on the floor was labeled "You have got to be kidding". There was no explanation needed about the offers that landed here. Mud wrestling and the like landed here. There was a file basket on one side to the desk label "Sounds Interesting". This basket contained the offers that the two of them would consider with a little more information. The basket next to that was labeled "BOOYAH!" This small basket contained the offers that the two of them agreed to do. It was agreed that for them to consider any offer both of them had to be invited or included or they agreed that it would be okay to go separately.

Kim giggled at the face Ron was making.

Ron held the paper out in front of him and started to read. "Charity, Danny. You need to face it. Pim and I accepted it. We are so different, yet perfect for each other."

Kim twirled her hair back and read from her paper. "That's right. Accept it as we did. Don't accept what others say. You love her, she loves you."

Ron finished as he read the narrator's part.

"Don and Pim held hands as they turned to walk back to the bus. Charity and Danny watched as the famous teen pair walked away. They looked at each other and realized that Don and Pim were helping them. Their love would face whatever life faced them with. Just as the two hero teens had shown the way."

Kim dropped the script from Agony County onto the desk. She dropped her head into her hands.

"Ron do they really believe that we can say those lines with a straight face. I mean showing up as guests on Agony County is one thing, but being the reason that those two finally get together and during the ending show. No way!"

Ron dropped his script on the desk next to hers.

"Yeah KP, they want us to be a hero pair of cheerleader and school loser turned leading running back. We are supposed to be the two big opposites showing two other opposites how to buck the food chain."

Kim picked up another packet. The front had "Celebrity Dance" written on the front.

"Well, we could always try and dance on this stage."

Ron snorted. "Kim, as much as I love dancing with you, that I am not ready for. Besides the dancing they want us to do is not quite what we are used to."

Kim rolled her chair over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't you want to show everyone what a Bon-Diggity dancer you are?"

Ron took Kim's slim waist in his hands.

"I'm up for it if you are KP."

Kim shook her head. "SO not going to happen. If you look inside the packet and see the dresses they want me to wear you would know why. That would end up as a months grounding from dad. Some of the costumes are tighter than my battle suit and a lot less material.

Ron looked over at the pile of folders and picked up a number of files.

"Well, you have been invited to Cheerleader University. They want me on Iron Chef. We agreed on doing those separately. Then we have the talk shows, local, regional and national."

Kim got up into his lap.

"Well Summer Gayle did ask first and she is local, so I think we should be on her show first."

Ron nodded.

"How about the national ones?"

Kim thought for a moment.

"Well, we have the evening ones, and the day ones. What do you think? I am thinking the Betterman show, and the Clay Deno show. We can decide on the morning shows later. Right now I think my BF needs his weekly allotment of Nacos."

Ron gave her kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Booyah."

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The score was 21-18 in favor of the Wart Hogs. Jason had already been sacked a couple of times, and Ron had been targeted the entire game. He had been able to get past the line of scrimmage only a few times, but he never could get very far downfield. Each time he had been tackled, there were plenty of punches thrown under the pile, which were unseen or ignored by the officials. The Maddogs were on their own 45, with 20 seconds left in the game. Jason knelt in the huddle and looked over at Ron. Ron held his side and winced.

"Dude are you okay?"

Ron nodded, and Jason patted him on the back.

"Okay guys, last play. Does everyone remember the play Coach Barkin drew up that one day?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "He just gave me the signal for it."

They broke the huddle and settled into a modified wish-bone formation. The full backs were split behind Jason, who was in shotgun formation, and Ron was directly behind the quarterback about two yards further back. The ball was sitting on the left hash-mark, so the two wide-outs were set up on the right.

He barked out a long count in an attempt to draw the defense off sides, but they didn't bite. Finally Jason yelled out "Hike", and immediately a number of different things started to happen.

The near receiver ran a quick post route, and the far one ran a flag. Jason immediately went to his right as if to pass to one of the receivers. His fullbacks however, peeled off to the left, and Ron was a few yards behind them. Jason saw his defender break through the line as expected and did a pump-fake, which slowed the man down. Then he turned and threw a lateral pass to Ron!

Ron caught the ball about a yard and a half behind the line of scrimmage, and barreled forward behind the full backs, who by now had picked up their blocks and a huge hole had formed in front of Ron. He turned on the speed, and ran like there was no tomorrow.

He made it to the 50, the 40, the 30… Ron didn't realize that the Safety was coming across the field, until he had reached the 10, which was when time had run out in the game. It was all or nothing now. The Safety's name was Nelson McDavis, and he was widely known for his speed and strength in the secondary. In fact, he was being actively recruited by a number of colleges.

Nelson caught Ron at the five, grabbed him around the waist, and tried to muscle Ron to the turf. It didn't work. Just before the Safety had wrapped his arms around him, Ron had switched the ball to his left to free his right arm. Stumbling backwards Ron had worked his arm between himself and Nelson, and pushed!

Nelson lost his feet, and as he went down he swiped out at Ron's ankles. Ron's feet went out from under him near the corner of the endzone. His feet left the turf just inside the out of bounds line as grass and dirt flew from his cleats, and his momentum carried his body directly over the corner marker. Ron quickly extended his hands out as they held onto the ball, and Ron's body sailed over the marker, the ball passing just inside the marker!

When he finally landed, his chest was lying on the out of bounds marker, and the ball, still clutched in his hands, was in the end zone. The referee blew his whistle and raised his hands. Touchdown!

Immediately the Wart Hogs coach was on the referee. "How can that be a touchdown? His feet are clearly out of bounds!"

The ref calmly replied to the livid face of the coach. "His feet left the turf while he was still inbounds, and then the ball crossed the plane of the goal before he landed. As a result, the ball was still in play when this happened. I repeat… Touchdown!

Camera flashes filled the stadium, and Ron stood up as the Mad Dogs rushed the field. A red headed streak of lightning shot past them all. Kim bounded over them all in a head long rush to get to Ron first. Ron dropped the ball, took off his helmet, and opened his arms to greet his girlfriend. Kim leaped into his arms with a kiss that broke every PDA rule in the state of Colorado. The cameras followed the couples every move. The crowd lifted Kim and Ron to their shoulders and carried them to the center of the field. Bonnie stood off to the side with arms crossed.

"Enjoy it K! Enjoy it while you can, but I'll be there when you fall so I can enjoy watching."

She spun and left the field.

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Kim was nestled in Ron's arms as the lay on the couch in his treehouse. A number of papers lay on the floor. The one thing common on all of them was a single picture of Kim and Ron kissing with the scoreboard in the background.

Kim pouted as Ron dropped the last paper on the floor.

"Mr. Barkin didn't have to give us detention. I mean we were just celebrating."

Ron kissed the top of her head.

"It was worth it KP. Beside's the rules apply to us just as much as anyone else. We were lucky that he didn't make it more than he did."

Kim shrugged. "I know, but it was still just celebrating."

Ron pulled an errant strand of hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

"Well, at least we will be doing something to together."

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Bonnie sat in her room cutting pictures out of the paper. A section of a wall in her room was covered in pictures. All of them were x-ed out in red marker. All featured one of two figures or both of them. Kim and Ron.

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Junior and Shego watched the news on the big screen TV in the living room on the island. The report on the game was playing. The reporter was stood on the field with the scoreboard still on showing the score. As she began her report the screen was filled with the tape of the game.

"Ron Stoppable pulled out all the stops and stepped up to win the game for the Maddogs. In an amazing run from their own 45 Stoppable showed his amazing dexterity in running. Dodging several Warthog players and literally leaping over others. He dove into the endzone for the win. Within seconds Kim Possible celebrated with her partner and boyfriend in the endzone."

The screenshot froze showing the kiss Kim gave Ron. The shot shrank in size to a small picture on the screen with the reporter.

One of the other anchors laughed as he spoke with the reporter on the screen.

"I would imagine with celebratory gifts like that we can expect Stoppable to continue his amazing runs."

The reporter smiled.

"That is true David. But on a sidenote. I learned later that that little display earned Kim and Ron sometime in detention. However considering the two teens together, I believe that those two will be spending some more time in detention. This is Sharon Parker reporting."

Junior whimpered.

"My blue fox, why is my blue fox kissing that pink sloth."

Shego snapped off the screen.

"Well, looks like the princess and the buffoon have it all right now. See you later, Junior. I think I'll go get my former boss out of that prison and see what trouble we can raise."

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Deep within in the Global Justice base, Will Du snapped off the screen to his TV. He stood as he turned to go on duty.

"Amateurs!"

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Okay everyone, that is my installment of our story. It is great working with Whitem. The two of us work together on each of the chapters with each of us being the main writer for the chapters in turn. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter and will continue to enjoy the rest of the story.

I now had the story back to my partner, Whitem.

Kim and the gang are the property of the Disney Company. Whitem and I own this story.


	3. Chapter 3

First let me apologize for taking so long to do this chapter. Being out of state for a week and then four 12-hour night shifts tend to keep me from writing. Anyways, getting back on track here. Thank-you everyone for reading and a special thanks to those who have reviewed.

Disclaimer: Neither CaptainKodak1 nor I own these characters. And if we did, we would be demanding Season 4 be shown on a better schedule!

Chapter 3

"That wasn't so bad now, was it KP?" Ron asked as they walked down the hall towards the lockers.

"It was detention Ron. DETENTION! Cheerleaders don't get detention!"

"Well… apparently they do, as you did."

"You should be just as upset Ron!" Kim was livid. "Football players don't get detention either! At least they're not supposed to."

"It's no big Kim. I've had it before, and so have you. Remember when you were in there with Big Mike and the guys?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Kim placed her thumb and forefinger on the bridge of her nose. "It's just… frustrating. I hope the squad waited for me to finish up practice."

The two entered the gymnasium with the doors swinging behind them, and saw… nothing. No one was there. "Dang it! I knew Bonnie would call practice when I didn't show up."

Then they heard voices and looked over at the doors that headed back to the girl's locker room. It was Tara and Bonnie, and Bonnie was yelling at the blond.

"I can't believe you Tara! You were the only one who could have broke the tie vote and you voted for her… again? Sometimes I wonder why we continue to be friends! Goodbye!"

With that, Bonnie turned on her heels to leave and then she saw Kim and Ron standing near the front doors of the gym. She gave them a hooded look and stalked out of a side door that was propped open with a brick.

Tara dropped her head, as Kim and Ron approached her. Tara looked up at the two when they arrived, and her eyes were close to bursting.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it Tara." Kim said. "So I take it Bonnie tried to get me voted off as Captain again?"

Tara nodded as she sniffed. "Uh huh. I… I just couldn't do it Kim. The other girls just don't realize that with out you, we could lose next weeks inter-state competition."

"I almost hate to ask this," Kim said, "But how did the Tweebs vote?"

"They didn't. As soon as Bonnie called for the vote, they just left and said they wanted nothing to do with it. They also told Bonnie if she ended up being Captain, they were going to quit."

"Good for them." Ron said, and turned to Kim. "Well, since you don't have practice, let's just head to your place, OK?"

Kim breathed out. "Sure Ron. That's fine." After a few seconds she spoke again. "Well, since today is Friday, that means the competition is a week from tomorrow, and the last game of the season is the Friday after that. These next two weeks are going to be busy. Tara… let the squad know that I'm done with this… _detention_, and that I'll be at practice all next week. Since we didn't do anything today, we'll have to work extra hard all week."

An almost evil smile crossed her lips. "And maybe I'll implement Mr. Barkin's style of punishment for Bonnie for trying to oust me again. I wonder how many laps around the gym equals a mile…?"

…x x x x…

The two teens entered Kim's house and immediately went to the kitchen to get something to drink. Just as they popped open the cans, Kim's mom called out. "Kimmie? Is that you?"

"Yeah Mom… it's me and Ron."

"Don't you mean Ron and I?" Her mother said as she entered the kitchen with an envelope in her hand.

"What are you talking about Mrs. P.? I'm not with you." Kim swatted him on the shoulder eliciting a yelp from her boyfriend.

"Sorry Mom." She said, and noticed the envelope. "What's that?"

"It came for you today. Looks official." Anne handed the envelope to her daughter as Kim asked her who it was from. "Well, it's not from a college. Yet. But it might be from…"

"The Intercollegiate Cheerleading Association?" Kim finished when she saw the return stamp, and tore into the envelope. Kim was silent as she read the letter, her eyes getting wider and wider as they scanned the words.

"Well, KP? What's it say?"

"They selected me…" Kim said, sounding like she didn't believe what she was reading. "They selected me!"

"What is it Kim?" Ron asked. "Who selected… mmmfff…" His words were cut off as Kim mashed her lips onto his. After a few seconds, the sound of Anne clearing her throat caused Kim to pull herself from her boyfriend, looking more than a bit embarrassed.

"You didn't tell him Kimmie?" Anne said surprised.

"I… I never once thought that they would select me, so I didn't think I had a chance. I… I didn't want to jinx it." She replied looking a bit contrite.

"Wait…" Ron said. "You thought I would… jinx you?"

"Sorry Ron, wrong word." Kim said. "I just… I just didn't think it was that important to let you know at the time. I had sent in the application literally just a day before that whole sitch with the Diablo's started. It was way early as I wasn't even a senior yet, but I thought, what the heck."

"So can you tell me now what it is that you were selected for?" Ron asked as he crossed his arms.

Kim stepped back a bit, and said proudly, "I have been selected as a special judge for the next Intercollegiate Cheerleading Competition, AND I get to go to a Leadership Camp that only top students get to go to. And last, but certainly not least, I get to train with last years Intercollegiate Cheerleading championship team!"

"Wow…" Ron said. "That… that's huge!"

"This calls for a celebration." Anne said. "Let's all go out to eat tonight, your choice, Kim. Just don't go overboard though, OK?"

"Who… me?" Kim said with an almost angelic look on her face.

…x x x x…

Bonnie stood in her kitchen seething. The opened envelope sat on the table, and the paper she clenched in her hands was wrinkling as her fingers started to curl into fists. If it were at all possible, smoke would have been shooting from her nostrils.

"What's the matter Bonnie…" Connie said as both of her sisters entered into the kitchen. Lonnie finished the question. "Receive a 'Dear Bonnie' letter from that loser so-called college boyfriend of yours? What's his name again? Buck? Or was it Dirk?"

Bonnie glared at her sisters, wadded up the piece of paper, and threw it at Lonnie, hitting her right in the forehead. She then turned and huffed out of the room.

Connie picked the crumpled piece of paper off the floor, straightened it out, and started to read.

"Dear Miss Rockwaller… We regret to inform you that even though you have excellent credentials, all selections have been made for the Leadership class, judging, and training. Please feel free to apply for this next year. Thank-you for your understanding. Signed, The ICA Board."

…x x x x…

The Inter-State Cheerleading Competition. This was it. Kim couldn't believe that they were there, and she just stood on the main stage that all routines were going to be performed on. She stood by herself looking out at the chairs and bleachers that were all turned towards the stage. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine each seat with a person in it, cheering.

"Feeling nervous K?" A voice said off to one side of the stage. Kim opened her eyes and turned to who had arrived. It was Bonnie.

"Not at all B. Why should I? We've got the best team here, and I'm POSITIVE we can take this thing."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that." Bonnie said as she circled around Kim. "It's the individual competition I'm worried about."

"What do you mean Bonnie? I've seen your routine. If you land that last triple flip, you'll easily get a 9.8 or better!"

"Oh, I'm not worried about MY routine…" Bonnie said, and turned and walked off the stage with a bit of a swing in her step.

_Now what was that all about?_ Kim thought, and went to her room at the hotel where the team was staying and started to get ready for the team competition, along with everyone else. She didn't see Bonnie again until they all headed for the competition that evening.

…x x x x…

Kim landed her split perfectly on the modified pyramid that her teammates had formed, and she breathed hard with a huge grin on her face after their routine was over. The crowd went nuts!

She hopped down to the spotters, and watched with nervous apprehension as the judges conversed about the routine. Finally they all started to lift their score-cards. The Mad Dogs were last, so they knew they had to have a total of 9.9 or better to win.

The five judges started to flip their cards one by one. 9.9 … 9.9… 9.8… 9.9… and… 10.0!

"The Middleton Mad Dogs win the 2007 Inter-State Cheerleading Championship!" The MC announced over the PA system, and the entire crowd cheered so loud, Kim and her teammates had to cover their ears.

After the standing ovation had lasted a good 5 minutes, the MC announced that the individual routines would start in 15 minutes. Bonnie walked past Kim and lightly brushed her side. Good luck, K." She said

…x x x x…

Kim had the worst luck in the individual competition. She was drawn to go first. _Oh well…_ Kim thought, _at least it will be over quicker and I can relax with Ron and watch everyone else._

Kim stepped out onto the stage and she suddenly felt an itch near the waistband of her skirt on her left. She absently scratched, and motioned for her music selection to start, and she began the routine with a double backward handspring. She then danced her way to the left, and then started a tumbling routine across the stage from left to right.

That was when she started to sweat, and that was also when she started to feel a burning sensation right where she had that earlier itch. Kim tried to ignore it and continued to do her routine. She quickly found out that the burning wasn't going away, and that it was actually getting worse!

The last part of her routine Kim was to run across the entire width of the stage and launch her self into a double flip, land, and immediately flip in the other direction, and land with a flourish to end her routine. Just as she launched into the double flip, she felt her entire left thigh start to burn like fire!

She landed and tried to do the last flip, but the burning was too much and she fell on her rear clutching her left thigh trying very hard not to scream out. Looking down, Kim saw that the skin was red and mottled. She had seen and felt this skin reaction once before, when she found out that she was allergic to a certain type of heating balm used to keep muscles warm.

The entire team came to her assistance, but Kim noticed that one member was missing. Bonnie just stood off to the side with her arms crossed, shaking her head side to side. An antidote for Kim's reaction to the balm was applied to her thigh as the rest of the individual competition went on.

…x x x x…

Bonnie received a near perfect score for her routine, and ended up winning the individual competition. At the end of the day, the Middleton Mad Dogs won the overall trophy, but by only one tenth of a point. If Kim had gotten better than a 7.5 on her individual, it would have made the margin much larger.

…x x x x…

The day before the last football game of the season, Ron was carbing up to get ready by having a large plate of spaghetti. As he ate, he was thumbing through a stack of mail his Mom had dropped on the table earlier before she and Eugene had gone for an evening walk. Hana was across the table from him in her high chair, smearing pudding all over her face.

After noticing the mess she had made, Ron wiped his little sisters face off, and put some crackers on the tray in front of her. He then sat back down and continued to look through the mail. One envelope caught his immediate attention, and thought it might be from one of the schools he had applied to. After checking the return, it was from The Colorado Board of Education. He opened it, and saw that it was a simple letter.

_To Mr. Ronald Stoppable,_

_You're name was submitted to us through a representative of your school as one of its most improved students. After reviewing your records at the school, you have been selected as one of the top 5 applicants in the entire tri-city area. It is our great pleasure to invite you to a ceremony in which the winner of the "Most Improved Student" award and the runner-up will be announced. A copy of this letter has been mailed to the teacher who submitted your name. We will be contacting you and Mr. Steve Barkin in a few days with the date of the ceremony, as that has not yet been finalized. We would appreciate an RSVP saying whether the two of you would be able to attend or not. _

_Thank-You, and Congratulations. _

_Mr. Adrian Jackson, VP of the State of Colorado Board of Education_

As soon as he finished the letter, the phone rang. Ron walked past his sister gently stroking her head as he went to the phone, and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Stoppable…"

"Mr. … Barkin?" Ron was surprised.

"Have you opened your mail yet?" Good ol' Mr. Barkin, getting right to the point.

"Yeah. I actually just finished reading it. I had no idea you did this Mr. Barkin."

The gruff teacher's voice softened for a bit. "You deserve it, Son. I haven't seen such dedication and improvement in any of my students in a long time."

Ron blushed at the compliment, and had never felt more humble at the praise. "Thanks Mr. B. That means a lot to me."

Mr. Barkin cleared his throat, and his voice returned to its usual harshness. "They usually hold these shin-digs sometime in the last few weeks of the school year before graduation." He paused. "You have a good chance at winning this thing Stoppable. The last time a student from Middleton High won this thing was about 15 years ago.

"This… is… wow." Was all Ron could say for a while. "I'm honored Mr. Barkin. I won't let you down."

"OK then." Mr. Barkin said, and an uncomfortable silence ensued for a short time between the two. "You ready for the game tomorrow?"

"Yes sir, I am." Ron said, straightening himself up a bit.

"Good. See you tomorrow at school."

"Bye Sir."

The two hung up, and Ron sat down hard on a nearby chair. "I'll wait and tell Kim about this after the game tomorrow. This game with the Lemurs should be a walk in the park.

…x x x x…

The Mad Dogs were ahead by surprisingly only two points. This was supposed to be an easy game, but it hadn't been. The team they thought that were going to be creampuffs, had been anything but. The Lemurs were on their own 45, and there was only 10 seconds on the clock. They didn't have a very good field goal kicker, as his longest was only 40 yards, and the Mad Dogs were sure that they had the game in the bag. After all, their defense was ranked number 2.

Ron sat on the bench watching the cheerleaders as the time ticked off on the clock. The cheer squad was on the opposite side line performing for the visiting team, and he wasn't too interested in watching the game. Right now his attention was on his redheaded girlfriend.

The squad was showing off, and decided to do a 3-2-1 standing pyramid. Tara, Marcella, and Bonnie were the base, Jessica and Hope were in the middle, and Kim was on top, of course. Crystal and Liz were the spotters.

Suddenly the base moved on Bonnie's end. Later Bonnie would say she stepped on a patch of mud, but none was ever found. The result of the slip and shift was that the entire pyramid started to sway with Kim about 10 feet off the ground!

The entire pyramid started to tumble, and took Kim by surprise. Before she could try to leap off and hope that Crystal and Liz could break her fall, she went off headfirst towards the ground. A collective gasp came from the crowd.

Ron had been watching this entire scene, and when it looked like Kim was taking a ten foot header into the ground, he leaped off the bench and started across the field to help his girlfriend and make sure she was OK. He was awarded a shrill whistle in his ear, and he saw a yellow flag thrown at his feet.

"Oh Crap!" He said to himself. "The game…"

Ron turned back to his sideline with his head hung low, and heard the call being announced by the referee. "15 Yard Penalty, too many men on the field! First down!"

Ron sat down, shocked by his stupidity. Looking over at the other sideline, he saw Kim being helped up by Crystal and Liz looking no worse for wear. She was unhurt, but he just caused a major penalty for his team. Ron put his head in his hands and didn't even listen to Coach Barkin as he continued to yell into his ear.

Ron didn't even watch the rest of the game… he could hear it well enough. The Lemurs had the ball on the Mad Dogs 40 after the penalty yards were walked off, and they had one chance to move the ball closer to give their kicker a shorter distance to kick the ball. The ten seconds on the clock was more than enough, and it only took one 19 yard pass and a timeout to get them within striking distance.

Ron hung his head even lower when the Lemur's kicker launched a 38 yard field goal attempt, and made it with only inches to spare, winning the game. Ron's attempt to help his girlfriend lost the game for them, and he forgot all about telling Kim about the "Most Improved Student" award.

To be continued…

* * *

I now hand the reigns back to the good Captain. Laters! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Trial of the Hearts  
****Chapter 4**

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The rain came down in sheets as Ron walked along the street toward his house. Barkin had really laid into him for his mistake. He was benched for the next two games.

As Ron turned to leave the room, Barkin called to him.

"Stoppable, I think I know what you were trying to do. Possible's lucky to have someone like you looking after her. I'm sorry this had to happen. She'll be okay. Liz and Crystal were able to break her fall. Liz reported to me that Rockwaller intentionally moved just as Possible reached her point. Rockwaller is suspended for the time being. Kim has a sprained ankle and should be out of the trainer's office in a few minutes. Luckily, it wasn't a conference game, but it's still gonna hurt our standing. Go on home, son, and rest up."

Ron nodded and left the office. There was no one was around as he pushed on the bar to open the outside door. He stepped out into the rain and headed for home. Kim would not want to see him after such a stupid mistake. He could hear her now.

"Ron, I can take care of myself. Your mistake really cost us. You need to keep your head in the game."

He sighed as he pulled his jacket further around him. Water dripped from his bangs and his shoes squished with each step. His clothes clung to him as the rain continued to fall. A few more minutes and he would be home. Maybe Kim would talk to him in a couple of days.

A car pulled up beside him and slowed down. He knew from the sound it was Kim's car, but he kept walking.

"Ron, get in the car. You're going to catch cold."

Ron shook his head.

"Just leave me _alone_, Kim. I'm just a _loser_. I cost the team, Kim. I cost us _big time_. Maybe I should just be the towel boy; the team would the better off. The head cheerleader needs to find a BF that doesn't make such stupid mistakes."

Kim's car screeched to a halt, the wipers slapping back and forth, the headlights shining their twin beams into the rain. Ron kept walking. He heard Kim running to catch up with him. She grabbed him by the arm and spun him around.

"Ron, _look_ at me."

Ron raised his head to gaze into the emerald orbs of her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks and were washed away by the rain. Her hair started to fall limp in the damping rain. Her cheer uniform began to cling to her.

Kim raised her hands and turned his face to hers.

"Ron, you are my BF. You are my _hero_. You always have my back no matter the cost to yourself. You made a mistake. The mistake cost us the game. So what? It was _one game_."

Ron shook his head.

"But KP, this time I did it in front of _everyone_."

Kim caressed his cheek.

"Do you know what _I_ saw?"

Ron stopped and shook his head as he looked at her. Her hair now hung in long dark strings. She sighed and bowed her head.

"I saw the man I love take a lot of heat because he loved me enough to take a risk. Ron, I _love_ you. Nothing you do could _ever_ make me ashamed of you."

Kim raised her face to look back up him and winced. He reached out and grabbed her as she wobbled a little.

A smile crossed her face.

"I sprained my ankle a little, but I should be okay in a day or so. I just need to stay off of it awhile. Besides, I think my BFBF deserves a little snuggle time. It's not every day that the star running back of Middleton High is also nominated for most improved student."

Ron pulled her into his arms and buried his face into her soaking wet hair. She held him as he shivered. Kim did not know if it was because of the chill in the air or him emotions. She knew he would need a little support. He had made a mistake for sure, and he would have to take a lot of heat for it. But she was the reason he made that mistake and dang if she would let him take the heat alone. They were more than just partners. Their hearts were joined in a way that most people could never imagine or hope to reach.

Kim pulled back and gazed up at him.

"Come on, let's get in the car before we _both_ catch colds."

Kim placed her arm around his waist as his arm came down around her shoulders and together they walked back to the car.

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_Be Be Be-beep_.

_Be Be Be-beep_.

The screen on the aqua-blue device kept flashing until Wade's face appeared.

"Kim? Ron? Come on, guys. I know you're there. The scanner says you are and, considering your physical parameters, I know that I'm already dead meat. So answer already!"

A lithe feminine arm came across the back of the couch, grabbed the device and pulled it over the front.

"Okay, Wade. What's the sitch?"

Wade saw Kim and Ron lying on the couch. Ron was propped up on one pillow as Kim lay on top. A single blanket covered them both, and... and... their shoulders were bare!

"Aggghh!!! Sppllluuuppppp!!!"

Wade spit his drink all over the webcam and fell backwards out of his chair.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

Kim glared into the screen.

"_So_ not the drama, Wade," Kim sat up and the blanket fell off.

"NO, KIM!!! DON'T!!! I'LL WAIT UNTIL…"

Kim sat up in a sleeveless top and shorts. Ron sat up next to her. His chest was bare but he wore a pair of board shorts."

"Until _what_, Wade?"

Wade uncovered his eyes and stared into the camera.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were…."

Kim's face turned bright red.

"Wade! Get your mind out of the gutter and into the game! What's the sitch?"

Wade started typing on his keyboard.

"Okay, Drakken and Shego have escaped from prison. Apparently they've set up a lair in the Arctic. I have your ride on the way with the clothes you'll need."

Kim stood.

"Okay, Wade. We'll be ready. Come on, Ron! Mission time!"

Kim started toward the stairs as Ron got to his feet. "Got your back, KP!"

Kim started up the stairs to her room with Ron right behind her.

"_And_ got the best view in Middleton."

Kim's eyes popped open as she turned and stared back at Ron. He stood there with that goofy grin on his face, winking at her. A grin spread across her face as she turned and continued back up the stairs with a decidedly bigger swing in her hips. Ron stood there for a few seconds, admiring the view.

"I think it's time to write "A Work of Art II".

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The C-130 supply plane flew through the clouds over the frozen tundra of Alaska. The two teens of Team Possible cuddled together with their new snow gear. Gone were the older ski-type suits. They were now wearing heavy fur-lined parkas and matching pants. Mukluks covered their feet. Their Team Possible snowmobiles were sitting on a drop pallet in the cargo bay. The pilot came back and stood beside them.

"Glad to have the two of you aboard, Team Possible!"

A grin spread across Kim's face. People seemed to be calling them Team Possible instead of her being just Kim Possible.

"We'd like to thank you for the ride, Captain."

The pilot smiled.

"No problem. It's not everyday that you can watch one of the members of Team Possible wire his game controller into the controls of an airplane and fly it to a landing. Mr. Stoppable, if you ever --- and I mean _ever_ --- think about a career flying planes, the United States Air Force will have a job for you."

Ron smiled as he sat back and put his arm around Kim.

"Thanks, Captain, but I think I know where I want to be."

The plane began its descent. The pilot saluted the two and turned toward the cockpit. Loadmaster Warren signaled for the teens to get ready.

"We'll skim the surface of the snow. A chute will drag off the pallet with you and your snowmobiles. Strap yourselves in good and get ready. I'll give you a finger countdown."

Kim and Ron mounted their snowmobiles and strapped themselves onto the seats. The snowmobiles were tied down to the pallet. Once the pallet was pulled from the plane, it would skip along the snow. After it stopped, the teens would unlock the clips holding the snowmobiles to the pallet and drive off towards Drakken's lair.

The Loadmaster waved to them as the plane leveled off. He started a finger countdown.

_5… 4… 3… 2… 1…_

The two teens caught their breaths as they were thrown forward against their harnesses. The plane disappeared in a plume of snow and ice as the pallet slid to a stop.

Ron wiped his goggles clear and glanced over to see Kim doing the same. She pulled back the hood to her parka, revealing her helmet. She stood and scanned the area, then sat back down. Activating the Kimmunicator on her wrist, she called Wade.

"Wade, we got here with somewhat of a bump but we're here. Now, where do we head?"

Wade typed on his keyboard.

"I just downloaded the coordinates of the lair into the GPS units on your snowmobiles. My scans show that Drakken and Shego must have stopped any experiments. The lair is only pulling a minimum of power."

Kim scowled.

"Do you think they know we're coming?"

Wade shook his head.

"I don't think so. The plane was supposed to make a supply point drop at your position. We just added the two of you and your snowmobiles. A known and scheduled scientific party will arrive at the pallet to get their supplies. Even if Drakken and Shego _saw_ the plane, they wouldn't have any idea you're there."

Kim nodded as she prepared to shut off the Kimmunicator.

"Okay, Wade. We're on the move. Will contact you later when we have Drakken and Shego."

Unhooking their snowmobiles, the two teens started off across the snow.

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Ron slid up next to Kim. They were in their winter mission clothes, their artic outfits having been left behind at the entrance of the lair. The ride to the lair had been quick. The stealth mode on the engines allowed them to approach quietly. The cave where the lair was hidden was open before them. Ron followed Kim into the cave. Soon they found themselves in a large open room. A group of synthodrones were working on the other side of the room. A light came from a large window overlooking the area. Kim noticed Shego pass by in the window

"Come on, Ron. Let's get over there."

Kim slipped along the wall until they were under the window. She raised her arm and fired the small grapple into the wall above the window. Ron came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as she activated the motor to pull them up. Their eye grew wide when the section of wall the grapple was in pulled loose. It fell open and dumped several small bags out. The bags hit them and exploded in showers of white.

Kim looked over at Ron. He did the same to her. They were covered head to foot in a white powder. Ron licked at his hand.

"Flour?"

Two voices burst into laughter above them.

"Oh, this is _rich_. I have heard of flamingoats and pandaroos, but a pandaKimmie and pandaRonnie is _perfect_. SMILE!"

Kim and Ron looked up to see Shego leaning out of the window above them, high-tech digital camera in her hand.

_Click Click_

The flash fired twice as Shego took two quick pictures.

A odd feeling came over the two teens as they stood there.

Drakken stuck his head out.

"Ohhh. By the way, we added a little something _extra_ to the flour. We thought a little itching powder would make things interesting."

Kim's eyes grew wide as the itching grew.

"Oh, man! It's down my neck and in my …," groaned Ron.

"Don't say it, Ron!" Kim growled. The fine powder had found its way down her shirt and started to venture lower..

Drakken stared down at the duo.

"All through our trials by Global Justice we were thinking of ways to have our revenge. We'll leave you now. I'm sure that you'll have _other_ things to do after we're gone. You think you're all that! Well, your trials have just _begun_."

Kim tried to load another charge into her grapple gun but the itching all over was too great. Ron was already twisting and turning, attempting to scratch where he itched. He made one move to scratch somewhere private when he noticed Kim staring at him.

Kim just shrugged.

"Scratch where it itches, Ron. I plan to."

Kim hit the button on the Kimmunitcator while putting her own advice into action.

"Wade, get us a ride and make it yesterday. We need a way to get a shower and some clean clothes."

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Next week

Monique struggled to maintain her composure as she watched her two friends trying to eat lunch. Kim and Ron had found a seat in the far corner of the cafeteria and tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

"Sorry, guys, but it _is_ funny. You didn't know that Drakken had the lair wired with cameras? He had that video of the two of you out on the Internet within minutes."

One of Bonnie's posse walked by with a t-shirt on. "Scratch Where It Itches, Ron. I Plan To." was written across the front. Two cartoon figures of them scratching themselves were on the back of the shirt.

Kim growled as the sophomore passed by.

"I _so_ can't believe this is happening. The next time I get my hands on Drakken, I'll…"

Ron put his arm around Kim.

"KP, we're lucky they didn't get a tape of what _else_ happened."

Kim's face went as red as her hair.. What the world did not know is that after Drakken and Shego left, the two teens found a pair of showers. Each quickly started the water in separate showers and started to wash the powder off. Both were well into soaping down with the liquid soap from the dispensers when Kim thought she smelled something familiar. They were both lucky that Kim recognized the smell. Shego had mixed Nair into the soap.

Ron was just getting ready to wash his hair when Kim and screamed for him to stop. The shampoo was nearly all Nair. They didn't lose any head hair, but the rest of their bodies was a different story. Barkin allowed Kim and Ron to go straight home after a game or practice. The story was they had other injuries that required home care, so they could not shower at the school. Both teens had various plans of what to do to Drakken and Shego the next time they got them in their hands.

Monique patted Kim's hand.

"Well, are you all packed for the training camp for the Inter-State Cheerleading Competition? "

Kim nodded brightly.

"Yep. I spent all last night packing and going over everything that they said I needed. I got a call from one of the people I'm supposed to work with. She was so excited to be working with me. We talked for hours. I am _so_ amped."

Ron glanced over at Kim.

"Ahhh, KP. Didn't you tell me that you had an AP Chemistry test today?"

Kim looked around for Barkin or other faculty and then gave Ron a kiss.

"Nope, that's not today. Marcella called and told me that it had been postponed until tomorrow. I plan to study tonight. I _can't_ mess up in this class."

Ron gave her a funny look.

"Ahhh, KP. When did Marcella call you?"

Kim munched on a celery stick as she thought.

"Oh, right before that other girl called; about seven o'clock."

Ron took Kim's arm.

"Kim, Marcella was with Felix and me at the Library then. Are you _sure_ about the girl who called? What did she say?"

Kim thought for a minute.

"You know, it's funny. The last thing she said was something about the test. How would she know…unless…..OHHHH NNOOOO!"

Kim activated the Kimmunicator.

"Wade, run a trace on the two calls to my phone last night from sixty-forty-five to about eight o'clock."

Wade started tapping on his keyboard.

"Kim, this is _weird_. Those two calls _seem_ to have come from two different numbers but when I run a deeper trace they both come from a totally _different_ number. Kim, I traced it back. It seems that it came from some old lair of Drakken's."

Kim's face fell.

"That means….Shego…."

Wade's face fell.

"Kim, I just did a test on the conversation you had with whoever was calling as Marcella and the other caller. Analysis shows that it was Shego using a voice modification box."

Kim's face turned white.

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Kim's panicked face surveyed the room. Everyone was sitting in their seats with extra paper and their calculators ready. Mrs. Davidson noticed as Kim walked in.

"Ahhh. Miss Possible. I do hope you're prepared. I hope you remembered that I warned you that I would not accept any excuses for missing or delaying this test. Need I remind you that your grade has already suffered some from your missions. A poor showing on _this_ test could cause problems for your overall grade and may hinder your participation on the cheer team. Please have a seat and let's begin."

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The sun was setting when Ron climbed into the tree house that had been their special spot over the summer and for most of their lives. He knew he would find her here; this was the one place that they could come to when one of them needed a little special time. Kim had run crying out of her house after Mr. and Mrs. Possible had found out the results of her chemistry test. Before that, loud voices could be heard shouting in the kitchen of the Possible home. She had not even spoken to Ron as she ran past him as he stood in the door to her home. He took his time moving over to her. She sat there on the couch in the tree house with her head between her knees, her quiet sobbing tearing his heart apart. Slowly taking a seat at her side, he curved his arm around her shoulders. She leaned over and buried her face into his chest. The paper fell from her hand to the floor of the tree house, the letter "**D**" written in red under her name.

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Things seem to be going good and bad for our two teens. Drakken and Shego are loose. What is coming? Only Whitem and I know. I hand off to Whitem now.

Please leave a review.


	5. Chapter 5

Well folks, it looks like y'all are liking this little story the Cap and I cooked up. First let me say Thanks to **everyone** who left a review for the last chapter: Jason Barnett, Ace Ian Combat, Spectre666, fatherfigure1, CajunBear73, DRIFTA, Star-Eva01, and Zaratan… Hope I didn't miss anyone, and I apologize if I have.

Disclaimer: Once again, if y'all saw them on Kim Possible, we don't own 'em…

Chapter 5

"Kimberly Anne Possible… Where have you been?" Kim's Dad, James Possible, was quite angry with his daughter. Kim was pretty much a straight 'A' student her entire life, and he was so proud of her. So when she came home with the worst grade she had ever gotten on a test, what was the first words to come out of his mouth? "I am very disappointed in you Kimmie! Young lady, you are grounded for the weekend!"

As soon as he said it, he immediately regretted it. Sure her grades had been slipping a bit lately, but there were actually good reasons. But to say he was disappointed? He was never disappointed with her.

Now his daughter stood in front of him with her head down, and one arm wrapped around her midsection. Her other hand was twirling her hair, which she had just started to do when she was nervous. She couldn't even look him in the eye when she spoke.

"I'm… I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't mean to run out like that. I… just had to go think for a bit, and get some perspective on… things."

"And would that perspective go by the name of Ronald?" James said, but he didn't mean it in a derogatory sense.

"Daddy…" Kim said, with a bit of a blush rising on her cheeks.

"It's OK, Kimmie-Cub. I was just kidding." He paused for a couple seconds and then spoke again. "Kimmie… I'm… sorry. I never should have said that I was disappointed in you. In fact, I feel just the opposite."

"Huh?" Kim was now looking at her father.

"I've always been proud of you. It's just when I saw that… that… grade, I kind of flipped out. I… just want the best for you. That's all I've ever wanted."

"What are you saying Daddy? Am I not grounded anymore?" A sliver of hope came into her features.

"Oh, your wings are still clipped, young lady… But not completely." Kim had a confused look on her face, and her father explained. "You're still allowed to see Ronald, but it's your missions that are going to be more… controlled."

"How do you mean?" Kim asked, feeling almost ecstatic that she could at least continue to see Ron.

"All missions you and Ronald go on for the rest of this month, which is about 2 weeks, are to go through your mother and I first. We will decide if it's important enough that you're needed."

"Thank…" Kim started to say and went to give her father a hug, but he stopped her.

"One last thing… I said you could see Ronald, but only here. You cannot go over to his house."

"But that's…" Kim was going say the word 'unfair', but she clamped her mouth shut, knowing it would be the wrong thing to say. Instead, she breathed out, and agreed to her father's terms.

…x x x x…

For the next two weeks, Ron was over at the Possible's almost every single minute of every single day. On more than one occasion, James had to almost physically usher the boy out the front door.

Those two weeks were also rough ones for the football team, as they were without their star running back. The first game without Ron they had lost by 2 touchdowns, and the second one they had lost by only three points. One more loss and they wouldn't be in the play-offs, and that hadn't happened to the Middleton Mad Dogs in over 15 years. As a result, they **had **to win their last 2 games.

Another thing that occurred could be either called a blessing, or possibly a curse. There had been only one mission and it was a minor one with Frugal Lucre. GJ was able to take care of it, as the miserly miscreant tried to corner the market on Pet Rocks. For some reason he thought the 1980's craze was making a come-back, and had stolen thousands of pounds of rock going to Middleton Mall for landscaping. Drakken and Shego were uncharacteristically quiet.

…x x x x…

Now it was Friday night. The first game that Ron was back, and it was a big one. They were playing the powerhouse of West Wake Water High. They were better known as The Sharks. Everyone in town knew this was going to be an epic battle, as the Sharks had two players nominated for all-state awards, their Center and one of their Linebackers.

The Sharks had the number 2 Defense for the season, and the Mad Dogs had the number 1 offense. They had almost dropped to number three when Ron was gone for two weeks, but the offensive line picked up their game, and made the second-string running back look a little better than he actually was. As a result, they were a little beat up.

As predicted though, neither team could get a clear advantage over the other during the first half, and it ended with a scoreless tie. In the third quarter however, the Sharks started to move the ball a bit more, and were driving for a touchdown. They got to within 15 yards, and had to settle for a field goal.

Ron had pretty much played almost every offensive play, and he was getting tired. Very tired. It was during the early part of the 4th quarter that Coach Barkin pulled Ron for a full set of downs to give him some much-needed rest. History would be divided for many years after that decision was made, as in no less than 3 plays, the Sharks got a safety on the Mad Dogs. A safety! That had only happened twice before in the history of the team.

As a result, the score was 5-0 in favor of the Sharks. After a tremendous punt by Middleton's All-State kicker and a stellar Defensive stand, The Middleton Mad Dogs had one last chance to win the game. With 3 minutes to go, the unthinkable happened.

After a particular bad hit on the Mad Dog quarterback Ty Featherston, he didn't get up like he usually did. He had slowly stood up, wobbled for a bit, and then fell back down. He had received a concussion on the last play. Apparently one of the defensive players used an illegal spear and clocked him right in the earhole of his helmet, and the referees didn't see the hit.

The last timeout was called, and all the players circled around Coach Barkin on the sidelines. Steve Barkin feverishly leafed through his playbook, and found the one he was looking for. The page was old, yellowed, and laminated to keep it from fading even further. The title at the top of the page read "The Mad Dog Flea Flicker". The play hinged on two players. The Tight-End, and the Quarter Back.

"Now I know we haven't practiced this much at all, but I feel this is our only chance. We've got a minute and a half to go, and we **have** to get a touchdown. Stoppable? Kowalski? Are you two up for this?" The two nodded and the entire team then ran out on the field together.

…x x x x…

The entire town of Middleton Colorado collectively held it's breath as the Middleton Mad Dogs approached the ball for what was most likely going to be the play of the game. Little did they know…

Once again, Barry Switch called the play by play:

"Mad Dogs approach the ball… and the referee blows his whistle to start the play clock. Ron Stoppable has had to come into the game as quarterback once again as Ty Featherston has gone out with a concussion. There is a long count as he tries to pull the Sharks offside, but they don't bite.

"With 2 seconds on the play clock, the ball is snapped. There goes Stoppable as he drops straight back to pass. The two Tight ends have started their routes. Stoppable passes the ball to Kowalski who then… What is he doing! Kowalski is now looping around and heading back towards center-field behind the line of scrimmage! Stoppable has taken off like a bat out of Hell, and has blown by EVERYBODY! He's into the secondary, and Kowalski heaves a mighty pass just before he's flattened!

"It's not a pretty pass folks, as it's wobbling like crazy, but it has the height and the trajectory to reach Stoppable! The pass is a bit short so he has to stop and let the ball come to him! Uh Oh! Here comes the Sharks star Linebacker and he's got a bead on Stoppable! Stoppable lowers his head… and there's the hit! Holy Mary and Joseph! Stoppable just went toe to toe with Star Linebacker Aaron Welter and he's still on his feet!

"Stoppable steps out from underneath Welter before he can grab his jersey and takes off running across the field towards the end zone, and Welter is hot on his heels…

"It looks like the entire defense is converging on Stoppable's location, and 3 yards out Stoppable goes airborne! He's hit by at least three defensive players and his ankles are grabbed by Welter! Down goes Stoppable right at the Goal Line! I can't even tell if he made it across because the entire defensive team has now jumped on top of him!

"The referees are blowing their whistles like crazy, and now they start to pull players off and see where Stoppable landed with the ball… Is that it? I see Stoppable's arms, extended… a few more players are removed from the pile… and the goal-line referee has signaled a touch down!

"Man Woman and Child! What a run by Stoppable! That ball must be just barely over the goal-line as I can't even tell from up here! It's definitely a touchdown, and the Mad Dogs have gone ahead by the score of 6-5…

"Now with ten seconds left the extra point is kicked… and missed! The kicker pushed his kick a bit and the ball has gone wide right!

"The mad Dogs kick off with 8 seconds left on the Game Clock, and it's kicked short of the end zone to try and keep the clock running. Here come the Sharks running back, and he barrels into the leading edge of Middleton's defense. He laterals back to another player, who then gets another 10 yards, and before he's stopped, he laterals back again! Somebody better stop this! The clock has now run out, but the ball is still in play! They try one last lateral… and this guy is finally taken down only 15 yards from the end zone! The game is over, and the Middleton Mad Dogs have won the game by the unlikely score of 6-5!

"Ho-Brother! What a game!"

…x x x x…

The Flagg residence was packed, to say the least. Brick had come back to Middleton from college just to watch this game. For the 7 years that Brick was in High School, it had become a tradition to have team parties at the Flagg residence, and tonight was no different.

Brick's Dad was pretty much loaded with money as a result of his job as Plant Manager at the Middleton Pickle Works. He furnished the party with everything that was needed, and it didn't hurt that they had a huge back yard with a huge heated pool and spa.

Kim and Ron had gone over to her house to get ready for the party after the game, and they received the usual speech from Mr. and Mrs. P. about being responsible, and do what was right.

They didn't dress up too much, but they both looked very nice. Kim wore a pair of jeans that her father said were too tight, but she just scoffed, and since her mother said they were fine, she was able to wear them. It was a bit cool, so she wore a double shirt. Underneath Kim had on a tight long-sleeve shirt that clung to her body in all the right places and over that she wore a loose short-sleeve button shirt, but left the front unbuttoned. Ron wore a pair of nice slacks that were a dark brown, and a long-sleeved burgundy shirt.

They arrived only about a half an hour after the party had officially started, but it looked as if it had already been going for hours. As soon as they entered the back yard where everyone was located, a call rose from the crowd.

"There he is! The man of the hour! Shtoppable, you are one **heck** of a ball player… You know that?" It was one of the seniors that played as a lineman, and he towered over Ron as he stumbled up to the couple and forced himself between the two, draping an arm over each of their shoulders. Both Ron and Kim could immediately smell the liquor on his breath.

"Ugh… You smell like a distillery Jordan!" Kim said and pushed herself away from the obviously drunk boy.

"Well, I is what I (burp) drink…" The arm he had around Ron also held a drink of something that looked like Coke with ice, but Ron knew from the smell that it wasn't just Soda.

"Where did you get the liquor?" Ron asked.

"My buddy Brick hooked me up." Jordan said, and then raised his glass over Ron's head and bellowed. "Attention! Attention everybody!" Almost immediately the party noises subsided to an almost tolerable level, and the quite inebriated boy made a somewhat clumsy toast.

"I would like everyone to raise their classes… (snicker)… I mean glasses… to the best running back the Middleton Mad Dogs have ever sheen. To Ron… the Un-shtoppable… Shhtoppable!"

A shout rose form the crowd "Here, Here!" At that point someone bumped into Jordan from behind as soon as he went to take a drink from his glass. As a result, the entire drink landed on the back of Ron's neck, ice and all, and went down the back of his shirt soaking both his shirt and pants.

Ron howled from the cold liquid, and quickly pulled his tucked shirt from out of his pants to remove the ice. Kim immediately came over to his side. "Ron! You're soaked! Lets get you inside and see if we can dry you off."

The two went into the kitchen, found a couple of dishrags, and began to somewhat dry him off the best they could. It was while they were doing this that another howl erupted from the party outside, and a loud splash was heard. Ron left his shirt un-tucked, and quickly buttoned it up as he and Kim rushed back outside to see five players crawling out of the pool. They also saw that one of the grills used to cook burgers was on the bottom of the pool.

The five wet players were all still hooting and hollering, slapping each other on their wet backs, and they were all talking at once. "Did you see that catch?" "**You** didn't catch that pass, **I** did!" "If it hadn't been for that darned grill…" One of the players then walked off behind a bush and proceeded to hurl up everything he had eaten earlier in the day. It was Jordan. Everyone slowly backed away from him as he continued to make gross and disgusting noises.

Brick came over to the group and spoke. "OK you guys… I think that's enough for all of you. Grab Jordan there, and let's get you guys home." He looked around. "Is there anyone here who's not drunk that can take these guys home?" No one immediately stepped forward, and Ron decided to do the deed.

"I'll do it." He said.

"Ron Buddy…" Brick said, "Are you sure? I mean you just got here."

"Yeah, that's fine. Kim can follow me to make sure everything is OK, and then we'll come back."

Brick handed Ron a set of keys. "Here ya go… You know which SUV I drive, right?" Ron nodded. "Just pile all of 'em in the back and get 'em home. I trust you Stops…"

"You can count on me, Brick." Ron said, and with the help of Brick and a couple of other guys who weren't as bad off as the drunk 5, helped to get them all loaded into the raised SUV.

Ron climbed into the driver's seat and looked in the back. The second and third row seats had been folded down, and all of the drunken players were just sitting or lying around haphazardly. He turned back, looked out the windshield, and inwardly hoped he could control this monster of a truck. Brick had it tricked out with a 5 inch lift, 38 inch Swamper tires, and had increased the engines horsepower to about 360.

Ron pretty much knew where all of the players lived since they had all pretty much visited each others houses throughout the year, so he wasn't worried about that. Sticking his head out the window, he saw Kim pull up behind in the Sloth. He was glad she was tagging along behind just in case anything happened.

Slowly he pulled out of the driveway, and headed towards Jordan's house first since it was the closest. Plus, he figured Brick wouldn't want him to throw-up in his truck. Kim stayed a respective distance behind, while Ron paid close attention to the speed limit, and his driving. He just wasn't quite used to driving such a large vehicle, so he was being extra careful.

They dropped Jordan off with no problem, and the next was going to be a toss-up between Chuck and Greg. They were both about the same distance from where they currently were, but each one was in opposite direction. Ron made a decision and started to pull out of the residential area onto one of the main roads when Greg called out.

"Hey Ronster! Where ya going? I want to go home next!"

Then Chuck called out. "No! **I** want to go home next!"

The two still inebriated players began to struggle in the back, and from their shifting weight, caused Ron to swerve a bit as he pulled out onto the road. "Take it easy guys!" He called out trying to keep the truck in his lane.

Ron was starting to accelerate to the speed limit when suddenly a hand came up from the back and grabbed the steering wheel! It was Greg, and he was trying to force Ron into making a U-turn right in the middle of the street! All Ron could see was the oncoming headlights of another vehicle coming straight at them…

…x x x x…

Kim couldn't believe what she was seeing. First Ron had swerved a bit pulling away from the stop sign, and now he was veering off to the left, right in front of traffic! It all happened so quickly, yet it seemed to be occurring in slow motion. She watched the large SUV careen off to the left in front of another pickup, and it couldn't stop in time.

Kim heard the screech of tires as the pickup caught the rear bumper and sent the SUV spinning across the highway. She could see Ron fighting with the steering wheel, and all she could do was helplessly watch as the SUV slammed into a light pole on the opposite side of the street head on.

Immediately Kim pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. She pulled into the parking lot of a nearby convenience store and ran up to the vehicle. The first thing she saw was Ron fighting with the airbag that had deployed out of the steering wheel.

"Ron! Are you OK? What happened?" She yanked the door open and Ron spilled out looking a little dazed.

"He… he grabbed the wheel." Ron said as he tried to clear his head. His ears were still ringing from the explosion that deployed the airbag. "I… I lost control Kim…" Then suddenly it seemed Ron had gotten his senses back. "Kim! Is everyone OK?"

Opening the rear doors they saw all 5 players in a tangle of arms and legs. Everyone was moaning and complaining, but no one was yelling out in pain, and that was a good sign. Immediately Kim and Ron went into Mission Mode, and started to help everyone out of the back. Just as they helped the last one out, the first police car arrived. It was Officer Hobble.

"OK… it looks like everyone is at least standing and there's no one seriously hurt, but there is an ambulance coming to check everyone out. Now… first order of business here… Who was driving?"

Ron slowly raised his hand. "Me… Sir."

"Can I see your drivers license, Son?" Officer Hobble said as he walked over to Ron. Ron handed him the license, and as soon as he took it, Officer Hobble sniffed the air. "Have you been drinking, Son?"

"No sir… I haven't."

"Well you sure smell like it. Can you step over here, I'd like to check you out." Ron glanced over at Kim who was helping the last player to sit on the curb. Their eyes met as Officer Hobble led him onto the sidewalk.

"OK Son, stand with your feet next to each other, look up, and hold your arms straight out." Ron did as he was told. "Now with the index finger of each hand, touch your nose."

Ron again did as he was told, and had no problems performing the actions. Kim just watched silently as she didn't want to get Ron into any trouble with the Law. Officer Hobble looked a little confused. "Hmm… I would like you to now walk on the curb here up to me heel to toe, and recite the alphabet at the same time." The officer stepped back about ten feet and Ron once again performed the "Drunk Test" without any problems at all. What no one had failed to notice, was that one of the players had pulled out a disposable camera and had taken a picture of Ron while he stood in front of Officer Hobble performing the tests. The flash wasn't noticed, as the officer's cruiser had its lights flashing the entire time.

"Would you submit to a breath test?" Ron was asked, and he nodded. Officer Hobble went to his car, and came back with a small breath analyzer, which Ron dutifully blew into. The results came up and the officer was once again slightly puzzled. "This says you don't have any alcohol in your system at all. Yet I can clearly smell it on you. Can you explain that?"

"Y… Yes Sir." Ron replied nervously. "Someone sp… spilled their drink on me. The back of my shirt is soaked, and my pants are a little wet too." Officer Hobble walked around to the back of Ron, saw the wet spot and touched it with a finger which he smelled, and then came back around to face him.

"I'm sorry I had to do all that to you, Son. I just had to make sure. The penalty for drunk driving is pretty stiff in this state. Were you driving these boys home?" He said, nodding towards the group sitting on the curb, and Ron nodded.

"I don't suppose you would like to sit with me in the car and tell me exactly what happened so I can make an accident report?"

"Of course, Sir, I would be happy to." The ambulance arrived to check everyone out just as Ron sat inside the police car, and once again, no one noticed the flash of a camera. After Ron made his statement, Officer Hobble talked to Kim and was able to get more information about what happened at the party.

Paramedics checked everyone out, and found there were only a few bruises here and there. The driver of the other vehicle was unhurt as well. After the entire ordeal was over, the 5 players were given a ride home, Brick's truck was towed to a shop, and Kim and Ron went to their respective homes and crashed until late the next morning.

At about 10:00 am the next morning, the phone rang at Ron's house at about the same time Kim's Kimmunicator beeped.

…x x x x…

Ron's phone call:

"Stops, Man! What did you do to my truck!" It was Brick. Ron groaned and proceeded to tell him what had happened…

"I'm so sorry, Brick! It was a complete accident! I'm sorry…"

"Well…" Brick said, and then he was silent for a bit. "I guess that's what insurance is for. I'm just glad that everyone got home OK.

"I still feel bad about everything…"

Ron was interrupted by the voice of his mother calling for him. "Ronald Dean Stoppable… Get down here this instant! You have some **serious **explaining to do…"

- - - - - - -

Kim's call from Wade:

"Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Actually I've got three things Kim… First, Drakken and Shego are on the move again. It looks like they've stolen the TUMI."

"The tummy? C'mon Wade, I've never heard of that… except for the obvious reference to a stomach…"

"Umm… No Kim… That's the T-U-M-I… The Trans Universal Maelstrom Inducer." Wade gave her a look that told Kim she should know about this particular item.

"Wait…" Kim said, "That sounds suspiciously like…"

"It's a cheap knock-off of the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer." Wade finished and took a sip of his Super Slurpster. "The bad thing is, it's very unstable.

"OK…" Kim said, "Now that I know what was stolen, what else do you have?"

"Take a look at this." Wades video feed of himself disappeared, and was replaced by the morning headlines of the local newspaper. There on the front cover was a split picture. On one side was Ron standing in front of Officer Hobble performing his 'drunk test', and the other half was of Ron sitting in the squad car. The headline read, "Local Hero Arrested for Drunk Driving".

Kim hung her head knowing that things at the Stoppable house was not going to be pretty this morning. "To no one in particular, Kim asked the proverbial question, "What else can go wrong?"

Wade answered for her. "That's the third thing Kim. GJ is sending someone to assist you on this mission."

_Why did I even say anything?_ Kim thought as she looked up towards the heavens.

…x x x x…

Kim opted to just drive over to Ron's and pick him up for the mission. She parked on the street in front of the curb and as soon as she stepped out, she clearly heard Mrs. Stoppable's voice echo from inside the house.

"You are so grounded Ronald, it's not even funny!" Kim winced at hearing the words, and hoped that Ron would still be able to go on the mission. She walked up to the front door, and pressed the doorbell. Almost immediately it was yanked open and there stood a still fuming Mrs. Stoppable.

"What do **you** want! I suppose you had something to do with this too?" She yelled into Kim's face waving the newspaper under her nose. She then slapped it down on a small entry-way table. It wasn't until then that Mrs. Stoppable noticed how Kim was dressed. "I suppose you need him for a mission?"

"Ummm…" Kim stuttered, as she wasn't used to seeing Ron's Mom this angry. "Yeah, I do."

Ron's Mom just stared at Kim for a few seconds, and then stomped away, speaking over her shoulder. I'll let him go this time, but when you get back, I intend to give him a punishment that will fit this crime."

Kim just couldn't let this go on. "Mrs. Stoppable?" Kim said, causing the older woman to pause just before entering the kitchen. "It's really all just a misunderstanding. I was there. Ron wasn't drunk, he was just trying to help… actually."

"By driving a truck into a light pole? This had better be good, Kimberly…" Ron stepped out of the kitchen and into the foray. He had heard everything that his mom had said to Kim, and everything that Kim said.

Kim continued…"I really need Ron for this mission Mrs. Stoppable. If you would just contact Officer Hobble, I'm sure he would be glad to explain everything."

"Yeah Mom…" Ron said as he took a step closer to his girlfriend, eliciting a look from his mother that could have melted lead. "Talk to the Officer, please? He will confirm everything I just told you."

Ron's Dad came out of the kitchen, and stood beside his wife. He took her shaking hand in an attempt to calm her down, and spoke. "We'll do that. Now let's get to work dear… The kids need to go off and save the world again." No one had any idea at this time just how prophetic the elder Stoppable's words were.

…x x x x…

The ride to Drakken's lair was just like any other ride they had taken. It was a military transport, and the two teens had to sit on a couple of jump-seats attached to a bulkhead. It was noisy and Kim had to just about yell as loud as she could for Ron to hear her, even though they sat only 2 feet apart.

"Ron! What's wrong? You haven't said anything the entire flight!"

Kim's BFBF looked up and into her eyes. "Well number one, I feel bad for leaving Rufus behind on this mission, and two… I really screwed up Kim! I crashed Brick's truck, and my parents think I'm a drunk! Please tell me that mmmmffff…"

Kim quickly placed her hand over Ron's mouth. "Don't you dare say it Ron! If you say it, it will happen! I'm not very superstitious, but I don't like taking any chances either! You got that?" Ron nodded with her hand still firmly over his mouth. "And I'm pretty sure Rufus is going to be OK. The vet said he only had a cold."

Kim removed her hand, but Ron had something else to say, err… yell. "But can you tell me why Will Du gets to sit up in the cockpit and we have to put up with … this?" He gestured to the wide expanse of the near empty cargo plane.

Will Du strolled out of the cockpit dressed in his official GJ flight suit, and was pulling on his chute. "Because I had to direct the pilot where to go! Drakken's lair is a new one in a very different area than we are used too! This time he's in a remote part of the Northern Rocky Mountains!"

Kim growled, but the effect was lost as no one had heard it over the roar of the engines. "Can you be a bit more specific?"

"It's Northwest of Great Falls Montana!"

"I hear the Rockies are beautiful this time of year!" Kim yelled.

"But I thought the Baseball season was over months ago!" Ron said, and two sets of eyes just blinked at him, and then the jump lights started their sequence. When the light went green, all three jumped. Will Du went first, and Ron last. They were all attached to static lines, so the chutes had been deployed automatically.

If Kim were in charge of the jump, which she wasn't, she would have at least done it later in the evening, or even in the cover of night. For some reason, Will Du had them jump at almost high noon. Not only could they be seen by anyone on the ground, there were heat currents that could send them drastically off-course.

Unfortunately, Kim was right on both accounts. When they finally landed after fighting one of those nasty updrafts, Kim stomped right up into Will's face. "Just what the HELL was that about? We jump in during the hottest part of the day, and had to fight heat currents almost all the way down, and on top of it, I'm SURE we were seen by those goons of Drakken's that I saw just west of here!"

"Calm yourself down, amat… Kim. I decided to jump at this time of day because the angle of the sun would blind anyone scanning the skies looking for us. I assure you… we were not seen."

Just as Will finished his sentence, a red beam lanced out just over his head making him duck, cutting a branch off of a tree only 50 feet away from them. Both Kim and Ron gave Will looks that could have melted iron.

"This way!" Kim yelled and took off running towards a stand of trees. Both Will and Ron were right on her heels, and as soon as they entered the dense area, 3 hover cars flew by the spot they had entered. One stopped, and the other 2 continued on.

"I've got an idea…" Kim said, and when Ron and Will turned to ask her what they should do, she was already gone. The two looked at each other, but with different looks on their faces. Ron had a smug look, as he knew whatever Kim was going to do was a good idea, and all Du could think, was what the heck is the amateur going to do now…

Then they heard a shrill whistle, and both looked to their left. There was Kim, standing just outside of the tree line, waving her arms trying to get the attention of the hover car that was still in position by Ron and Will. When it took off towards Kim, both Will and Ron jumped back out into the clearing, wondering what the heck Kim was up too.

Just before the hover craft reached Kim's position, the pilot had seen… and just a bit too late… the small parachute laying flat on the ground, and it's ropes tied to a bent over tree. Kim slashed out with her pocketknife, and the tree snapped back to its upright position, billowing out the chute, and neatly caught the hovercraft like a catcher's mitt.

The weight of the craft was enough that the tree didn't completely straighten, but it had enough momentum to neatly wrap up the craft and it's two occupants like a cocoon in the chute.

"Boo Yah!" Ron shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "Nice job Kim!"

"Ronald…" Will said, looking behind Ron, "That was only one. There are two more, and they're coming this way."

Laser fire began to hit the ground next to them, and Ron 's eyes went wide. "What do we do?"

"Umm… Run!" The two high tailed it back into the trees, but this time instead of stopping, the hover craft just slowed down, and started to weave it's way between the trunks.

Neither of them were watching where they were going, so it was a complete surprise to them both when Ron and Will tripped over a log, and landed flat on their faces in a patch of wet earth. Will tried to push himself up, but Ron immediately shoved the agents face back to the ground.

Sputtering, Agent Du tried to say, "Stopp…" But he was cut off by Ron.

"Ssshhhh!" Ron whispered. "They're right over us."

Sure enough, when Will turned his head just enough to look up, he saw the gleaming silver bottom of the hovercraft just a few feet above them. The occupants of the hovercraft hadn't seen their adversaries' fall, and their momentum had brought the craft right over the two.

Silently Ron reached out, grabbed a pinecone, and packed it tight with some of the wet ground. The craft was slowly turning on its horizontal axis, most likely so the henchmen inside could scan the area. As quietly as he could, Ron rolled over onto his back, and watched the silver bottom spin just two feet above him. When the exhaust port finally came around to position, Ron immediately stuffed the mud-caked pinecone into the port, and then glanced at Will.

For once in his life, Will had an idea what Ron was trying to convey to him. It was his turn for the next move. Glancing around, Will saw a rock about half the size of his fist, and chucked it as hard as he could off to one side. Sure enough, the hovercraft flew off in that direction to investigate the noise and the two scrambled away in the opposite way.

They had only separated themselves from the craft by about 30 yards when a loud POP! Was heard. Ron and Will turned around and saw smoke rising from the hovercraft as it now sat at angle on top of a fallen tree. The occupants were slowly stumbling out, obviously no worse for wear.

"Now where did you learn **that** trick, Stoppable?" Will inquired.

"It was in an old movie… but they used a banana."

Just as the two turned around to go the other direction, a red headed blur jumped in front of them, causing two very different reactions. Will dropped back into a defensive crouch, and Ron let out a small… "Scream of Courage" as he covered his face.

"You're turn." Kim said, looking at Will.

"Huh?" He wasn't sure what was being asked of him.

"I took out one and Ron took out one… That means the last hovercraft is yours." Kim raised an eyebrow implying that she didn't think he could do the job.

"So Will…" Ron said as he walked up next to his girlfriend taking her hand. "You think you can… Du… it?"

Will harumphed and walked away from them as he brought a hand to his chin, thinking. Suddenly he got an idea, and turned back around to the two… amateurs. "Get the last crafts attention, and get them to stop under this tree. I'm going to climb up, hide in the branches, and then drop onto the two occupants and take them out."

Ron and Kim looked at each other, shrugged, and then looked back at Will. "OK…" They said at the same time.

With no trouble at all, Kim and Ron were able to get the craft's attention, and get it to move into position right under the tree. Will went to jump off the branch he was perched on, but failed to notice that a small branch had caught a loop on his pants. As a result when he jumped, the small branch snapped. The resistance was enough to cause him to fall out of control, instead of a controlled leap like he had planned.

Will Du's original plan was to land on his feet between the two goons, and knock each one out with either a swift kick, or a punch to the face. Instead, he landed sideways on top of them both, rendering the two henchmen unconscious, and left him with a bad headache. With no one at the controls, the craft went into 'default' mode, and slowly lowered itself to the ground.

As soon as it touched down, Kim and Ron looked inside and saw Will lying on top of the Henchmen, holding his head. "Owww… that hurt."

"Well… You had to do things the hard way, didn't you." Kim said, and offered him a hand to help him out.

"Now which way to the lair?" Ron asked, and at virtually the same time both Kim and Will whipped out their respective multi-purpose devices.

"That way…" Kim and Will said at the same time, but were pointing in slightly different directions.

"Well," Ron said, "Since I'm more inclined to believe Kim, I say we go her direction."

"Why do you automatically think that I'm… wrong…" Will said as he quickly rebooted his unit. He looked at the screen, then at Kim and Ron, who now were standing side by side looking at him.

"Well?" Kim said with her eyebrow raised.

"Like I said… we go that way." This time Will pointed in the same direction that Kim had indicated earlier.

…x x x x…

After hiking for only 30 minutes, Kim started to scan the area with her Kimmunicator, and stopped next to a rather large boulder. "I don't get it… I'm picking up an energy signature from somewhere around here, but I can't tell where it's coming from."

Kim started to walk slowly in circles trying to locate the energy source while Will did the same with his device. Ron just watched the two with a smirk on his face, as he noticed that his girlfriend and Will had a few quirks that were the same. Such as pursing their lips when confronted with a puzzling situation. Of course, Kim's pout was much cuter.

He crossed his arms and went to lean on the large boulder and yelped when he found himself suddenly lying on his back.

"Ron… Ron! Where did you go?" Kim had turned around to say something to her boyfriend and he was suddenly nowhere to be seen. She then saw something on the ground next to the boulder, and her eyes narrowed in confusion. _Is that… Ron's feet?_

Sure enough, there was his sneakers sticking out of the boulder, still attached to his legs! Cautiously, Kim passed her hand through the supposedly stone surface. "A hologram boulder." She muttered to herself. "Will! Over here!"

Will spun around in time to see Kim Possible literally walk through stone.

…x x x x…

Now the three of them were standing inside the 'boulder hologram' on top of a grate. Sure enough, what they had found was a vent for the underground lair. "Nice job Ron." Kim said, and gave him a buss on the cheek. Will Du rolled his eyes at the unprofessional actions of Kim.

Within minutes the grate was removed, and all three slid down the angled vent and landed inside a utility room of the underground lair. Slowly Kim opened the door and looked out into the adjacent hallway. In one direction it was dark, and in the other it was brightly lit. She placed a finger over her lips to indicate silence to her partners, and then entered the hallway waving them on to follow.

Sure enough, the hallway led all three to a fairly large and well-lit area. Voices could be heard on the opposite side of the room behind some machinery, and they were quite recognizable. Not only for how they sounded, but also from what the voices were saying…

"… and when Kim Possible arrives, I will be ready for her! Ha Ha!"

A second voice groaned audibly. "Wait for it in 3… 2… 1…"

Kim stepped into view of Drakken and Shego with her signature hero stance. "I hope that means you're ready to be taken into custody… again."

"What?" Drakken said completely surprised by Kim's entrance. "How did you… But I… And the boulder… rrrggghhh! Shego! Get her!"

The green villainess cracked her knuckles, and fired her plasma at the same time. "With pleasure…" Kim easily dodged the first blast, and jumped back around the corner of the large machinery that Drakken and Shego were behind.

Just as Shego came around the corner she didn't see a foot suddenly extend out, and down she went sprawled out and skidding on the floor. She came to a stop at the feet of a third person, and looked up just in time to see the individual press a button on his watch, and a small wire shot out, attaching itself to her shoulder. The subsequent shock made her entire body go stiff and she couldn't move.

"Nice job Will!" Ron said, slapping the GJ Agent on his back.

A klaxon suddenly began to blare, and red lights started to flash around the entire complex, and a decidedly pleasant female voice came from the speakers. "Please evacuate the facility. Self-destruction will commence in 2 minutes. Please evacuate in an orderly manner, and no running or screaming. Thank-you, and have a nice day."

"Shego!" Drakken bellowed. "Where are you? I activated the self-destruct! We have to get out of here! Shegoooo…"

Kim immediately took control of the situation. "Ron! You and Will grab Shego, I'll get Drakken, and let's get out of here!"

Ron and Will each took an end of Shego, and carried her like a large chuck of wood, and Kim had no problem subduing Drakken. "Which way out of here?" Kim growled into Drakken's face, and he just pointed a direction while looking at his incapacitated sidekick. "OK, now where's the TUMI?"

Kim was slightly taken aback when Drakken reached inside his lab coat, and pulled out a small cylinder about half the size of the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer.

"It never worked right anyway." He said, and winced as Kim spun him around and Zip-tied his wrists together behind his back. Drakken then led the group to an open freight elevator.

She leaned in and whispered into his ear, "And don't think we've forgotten about the itching powder."

"Oh snap…" The blue villain muttered under his breath.

…x x x x…

After entering the elevator, Kim pressed the button that closed the doors and it started to lift. Just as the lift ascended out of the ground through a cleverly disguised exit that blended with the forest, the first explosion rocked the elevator. They scrambled out just in time, and the next explosion blew the elevator car completely out of its shaft, launching it a good 50 feet into the air. It landed away from the group, who hadn't stayed around as they were now all running away from the area as fast as they could.

"Now what?" Ron asked, slightly out of breath. "Do we have a ride?"

"Of course…" Will answered. "Just… let me…" While trying to hold onto his end of Shego and trying to get at his communication device, Will inadvertently dropped his end of their captive onto her head. "oops…"

Within 5 minutes, a Huey-sized helicopter with distinctive GJ letters on the side arrived, and they loaded up the two villains. While loading Shego, the paralyzing effect started to wear off. Before she could do anything, two more agents were able to attach the special cuffs designed to keep her from using her plasma power.

While everyone took a seat and was buckling themselves in, Ron leaned over to Kim and whispered a question in her ear. "We don't need to get back right away, do we Kim?"

"Noooo… I guess not." Her eyebrows went together in slight confusion as Ron took his seat belt off, and went to say something to the pilot. When he finished, the pilot gave a thumbs-up, which Ron copied back with a huge grin.

"Ron…What are you…?" Her boyfriend shushed her with a dirty finger to her mouth, but she didn't mind.

…x x x x…

After a short flight of only about 35 minutes, Kim found herself standing in the lobby of one of the most luxurious hotels in Yellowstone National Park. "Ron… How did you…"

"You know Kim… You're not the only one that people owe favors to."

"But…" She started to say, but Ron just once again silenced her with a hand. The manager of the hotel walked up to them and shook Ron's hand.

"Mr. Stoppable… I'm so glad you decided to take me up on that offer. I would be honored to have both you and the famous Kim Possible stay here for the night. I am sorry though… we only seem to have one room available. I hope it will be to your liking." The manager clapped his hands twice, and a Porter seemed to arrive suddenly out of nowhere.

The manager continued. "James… My good man. Please, lead Mr. Stoppable and his guest to Signature Room number 2."

"Yes sir, very good sir." The Porter took their backpacks in hand and led them across the Lobby towards the elevators.

"Signature Room?" Kim whispered into Ron's ear as they followed the Porter. "What did you do for these guys, Ron?"

"Ah… Ah… Kim. This is all for you, so no talking about me."

"All for me?" She said with a surprised smile. "But… why?"

"For our Three-Quarter-a-Versary." Kim gave her boyfriend a slightly confused look. "This is to make up for missing the Half one.

The elevator doors closed on Kim giving Ron a hug that he wouldn't forget for a long time, and the Porter just rolled his eyes at the young teenagers. When the doors opened, the Porter led the two to their room and let them in. When Kim and Ron entered, both of their jaws dropped.

The teens took in the Signature Room in a counter clock-wise fashion. The main room was a large square, and they first looked directly to their right and saw a doorway that they assumed was the bedroom. Their eyes moved along the wall to a 56-inch Plasma Screen TV, which had an over-stuffed couch sitting in front of it with a small coffee table between the two. To the left of the couch on the wall was a large fireplace with wood inside ready to be lit. As their eyes moved along the wall, on the corner opposite where they stood, was what made the room a Signature Room. The corner was one huge window from floor to ceiling and extended at least 5 feet on either side of the corner. Outside was a breath taking view of Yellowstone National Park.

Then directly to their left was a full-sized, fully stocked, kitchen. Ron was torn between which place to check out first. The kitchen, or the view. Kim had headed over to the window, so he opted to follow the view. Then he looked out the window.

"This is… gorgeous! The park is so beautiful at this time of year." Kim said as Ron came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He set his chin on her shoulder and looked outside along with his girlfriend. Outside the trees were full of green, and flowers were in bloom everywhere of almost every color.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you, Kim."

"Oh Ron…" The two never even noticed that the Porter had left the room.

After separating from their kiss, Kim wiggled her nose and said, "We stink."

"Speak for yourself there, Kim…"

Kim swatted her boyfriend on the shoulder. "I mean it Ron… We so need a shower."

"I'm all for that…" Ron said with a smile as he started towards the bedroom.

"Separately…!" Kim called out, and she snickered when Ron's 'Awww Mannn' echoed out of the bedroom. "Now get out of the way, 'cuz I'm first. After that, I would like you to give me one of your mind-blowing massages…"

"You got it KP… But there may be something we should… discuss."

Kim walked into the bedroom and saw what Ron was referring to. There was only one bed. It was a huge California King, but it was still… one bed. "We'll talk about it later. First shower, then massage, then we'll… talk. OK?" Kim gave Ron a chaste kiss on his cheek as she walked by and went into the bathroom.

After Kim finished her shower, she came out with a long white Terry Cloth robe on, and Ron almost fell off the bed, which he had been laying on. "Your turn…" She said with an almost sultry voice.

While Ron took his shower, Kim retrieved their backpacks, which held a spare set of clothes from the other room where the Porter had set them down earlier. She dropped both on the bed, and took out her change of clothes. She put on a pair of lightweight night pants, and put a fresh bra on, and put the robe back on to cover her shoulders. Her hair was still damp, and she just let it fall over her shoulders, promising to herself that she would comb it out before going to bed.

With bare feet she padded over to the sliding doors which opened to a balcony off the bedroom. Kim pulled back the curtains and watched the sun as it began to set behind the trees. She was so engrossed in the view that she gave a slight jump when Ron snaked his arms around her waist. "Ronnie! You surprised me there."

"Sorry…" She turned around to see Ron standing there with only a pair of sweat pants on, and no shirt. His hair was still slightly damp, and wasn't combed.

"Did you forget a comb again?" Kim said as she tried pressing down his damp, wild hair.

Ron sheepishly grinned. "Yeah…"

"Now how about that massage?" Kim turned her back towards Ron, and started to drop the robe off her shoulders.

"Uhh… Kim?" Ron started say with a nervous hitch in his voice. "Wh… What are you doing?"

"It's OK Ron, I have a bra on underneath. It's one you've seen before, so it's nothing special."

"Umm… OK." Kim let the robe drop onto the floor, dropped her head forward, and pulled her damp hair from her back and set it to one side over her shoulder. Ron's expert fingers began to find all of her tight muscles, making her moan in a combination of pleasure and pain, particularly the later when he would find a nasty tight muscle.

Now Kim and Ron are standing in front of an open window on the 4th floor of a hotel, which was facing nothing but trees. They never once thought that anyone could see them. Unfortunately, a particularly pervasive paparazzi person had found out that the two teen heroes had checked into the hotel. They were able to pay off the reservationist and find out which room the two teen heroes were staying in.

From the top of a tree almost 100 yards from the window, a very expensive camera whirred as it took multiple shots of the young couple as they stood oblivious in front of the window.

To be continued…

* * *

Whew! That was the longest chapter I've ever written! The wonderful… the great… the awesome… Captainkodak1 now has the next chapter for your enjoyment.

Laters…


	6. Chapter 6

Trial of the hearts

Team Whitecap

Captainkodak1

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Kim rolled over to greet the sun streaming in through the window of their room. Sitting up she glanced around for her robe. It was lying on the floor at the door to the room. She must have dropped it on the way to the room. A slight snore came to her ear. Turning around she saw Ron asleep on the other side of the bed. There was a line of pillows down the middle of the bed separating the two. Kim smiled at her friend as he lay there snoring. She sat up and stretched her arms over her head and then leaned forward to bend and crack her back. Ron rolled over to smile at her. Kim started to bend forward and he started to sit up. They met halfway for a brief kiss. Kim's arms wrapped around Ron's neck and he pulled her down with him. They snuggled for a moment then Ron rolled over and pushed himself up with his arms. Kim lay to the side as she smiled up at him. Ron stretched his back a couple of times then lowered himself down beside Kim. Kim raised her legs up in the air and waved them back and forth. Lowering them back down to the bed she rolled over and gave Ron a nip on the nose.

"We better get ready and get some breakfast."

Ron nodded and rolled to the side of the bed and looked down.

"Is my backpack on that side, because yours is over here?"

Kim grinned and waved a pair of boxers in the air.

"One clean pair of boxers. Now do me a favor and grab me a fresh jog bra out."

Ron reached into Kim's pack and pulled the item she wanted out and handed it to her. She tossed the boxers to her and he tossed the bra to her.

Kim sat up and pushed the button to close the blinds of the room.

"Let's not give the world a show. Not that anyone was watching. You first buster. Then as I get ready, YOU are to order up breakfast. I want pancakes, bacon, and coffee."

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Kim savored the warm cup of coffee in her hands. Ron had ordered pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns and coffee. The hotel staff had prepared the meal and brought it to the door. The two of them ate on the veranda of their room overlooking the landscape.

Kim's hair shown in the morning sun as she sipped from her cup. Ron speared a piece of pancake and presented it to Kim. She bent forward for the morsel of food. Her foot came up and circled around the back of this calf and rubbed.

"So what's on the schedule for today."

Ron finished his juice, sat back and closed his eyes as Kim's foot caressed the back of his leg. Rufus hopped up and dove into the remains for Ron's plate.

"Mmmmmm, I am thinking about going back to the room for a little…."

Kim smiled.

"Down boy. Not that I don't agree. Buuuut. I think we can find some other interesting things to do."

Ron opened his eyes to see Kim gazing at him with smoky eyes. The curved smile on her face promised something very interesting. Kim purred as she leaned forward.

"How about we get the hotel to fix a couple of box lunches and we can have a picnic."

Ron smiled.

"I think a picnic with the hottest cheerleader in the world would be great."

Kim reached up to play with a lock of her hair. Ron wanted to tell her one day that doing that drove him crazy.

"I think we are going to have a great time…"

Be be be beep

Kim groaned.

"OR NOT"

Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator.

"What's the sitch Wade?"

Wade's face came up on the screen.

"Sorry for interrupting your little down time but there is a small government lab nearby. Drakken and Shego have been tracked to the area. The director of the site sent out a distress message then went off the air."

Kim turned to Ron who nodded. Kim turned back to Wade.

"Do you have us a ride?"

Wade typed on his keyboard.

"By the time you change and get outside it will be waiting for you."

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Captain Robert crossed his arms and stood in from of Sheriff Gore.

"Bud. I have told you once. I will not tell you again. Your men can support the guard around the base but you do not have permission to enter inside the gates. Your men do not have the equipment or have the training to handle the persons in there."

Bud Gore snapped up to Roberts.

"What did you say? That my boys don't have the training? That they can't handle some gal and her dude?"

Captain Roberts settled back.

"Bud, this is a top secret facility. Even I can't go in most of the areas. Now the government is sending in two specialists who have the clearances, and the training, and the equipment, and the experience in handling the two that are in there. Now until they get here and tell us what to do we have orders to stay out."

Gore's face started to turn red.

"YOU mean some _people_ are going to come in here into _my_ county and tell _me_ and _my_ boys what to do?"

Roberts nodded.

"Yep, that's the way it is. Now I have heard they should be here soon so tell your boys to patrol the perimeter and keep out those who should not be here."

Gore spun around with a muted curse and mumbled into his radio. Roberts smiled to himself. He knew Team Possible was on the way. He could imagine what Bud Gore's reaction would be when he found out that two teenagers would be giving him his orders.

Gore stomped his way to the main gate. Four of his deputies were manning the first checkpoint. Several news crews were trying to get by but were being held back by the barriers. Bud noticed a purple car pull up to the gate. Two teenagers climbed out. The driver was a young girl. She had on a purple top with black pants that had a purple stripe down the outside of the legs. A small holster was on her right hip. The boy had on a black tank top and wore brown cargo pants. He carried a backpack on his shoulder. Both of them approached the second checkpoint manned by a group of Marines. His eyes grew narrow as the troops allowed the teenagers to pass.

"HEY YOU TWO where do you think you are going?"

Kim and Ron stopped to face the Sheriff as he approached them with a number of his deputies.

"JUST what to you two kids think you are doing here. Now get out of here before I put you under arrest for trespass."

Kim turned to face Bud.

"AH Sheriff Gore? We are supposed to be here. Those Marines knew that and cleared us through. Now why don't you go back to work? Come on Ron."

Kim turned from Gore and took a couple of steps toward the base.

Bud grabbed her arm.

"NOW hold on little missy. I haven't cleared you and you take one more step toward that building you will be under arrest."

Kim rolled her eyes and reached into her pouch to get her ID.

Bud saw the pistol grip of the grapple gun.

"GUN!!"

Gore dove to the ground, drew his pistol and fired at Kim. The bullet sliced through the air where Kim's chest had been. She had jumped out of the way before the bullet left the barrel. Kim vaulted back onto her feet and held up her hand.

"STOP"

Bud took aim again when Ron kicked his gun to the side. A second deputy tackled Ron from behind as Kim leaped toward the first deputy and knocked his pistol out of his hand. Bud jumped up and drew his pepper spray.

"KP LOOK OUT"

Kim turned toward the yell to catch a face full of pepper spray. She went down her hand covering her face. Ron took a step toward her and was hit by pepper spray from another deputy. Gore pulled handcuffs from his belt, rolled Kim over and locked them down on her wrists. When he stood, he turned to see Ron had been cuffed.

"I am charging you with assault on a law enforcement officer, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon, and trespassing. Get them out of here."

Two of the deputies pulled Kim and Ron to their feet and put them in a squad car.

"GORE! YOU STUPID IDOIT! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

Gore spun to see Captain Roberts approaching with a squad of armed troops.

"These two kids tried to break in here. When I stopped them this here girl tried to pull a gun on me. I drew on her and fired. Next thing I know this boy here attacked me. But we got them and they are going away for a long time."

Roberts shook his head.

"Bud. They are not going anywhere and if you have a job by the end of the week I will be surprised. You just assaulted the Global Justice agents sent to help."

Gore shook his head.

"They are just two kids."

Three men is assault gear walked up. The first flipped a folder in Bud's face. Bud's face flushed when he saw a FBI Hostage Rescue Team identification.

"Sheriff Gore, you will release those two immediately. You will then consider yourself and your men detained for the assault on federal officers. Drop your weapons and stand aside."

Gore shook his head.

"This is my county and NO FED is gonna tell me to release somebody I just arrested. I you want'em, get a court order or if you think you are good enough to take me and me boys."

Gore heard the slides of several assault rifles being charged and when he turned back to the officer he realized he was staring down the barrel of a rifle.

"Sheriff Gore, I don't have time to deal your fat assed ego. Sergeant! Take this fat slab of beef under arrest along with any of his men that try to stop you. Get those two out of the car and release them."

A trooper stepped over to the car, opened the door and pulled Kim and Ron out. Medics immediately took both of them to the side and began to treat them for the pepper spray. There was an explosion and everyone turned to see a hovercraft take off through the roof of the center and fly off.

Roberts turned back to Gore.

"Bud, when an investigation is started on your actions, I plan to make sure that everyone will know that the reason that whatever was stolen or lost, was because you and your ego overstepped itself. Now whether or not Team Possible files any charges against you will be their decision."

He turned to his troopers.

"Get him out of my sight."

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Three weeks later.

Middleton High School

Ron waited for Kim to meet him at their lockers. The two had been enjoying a nice break for the past couple of weeks. They decided not to press charges against Sheriff Gore and his men. It would have been too much trouble and too much bad press. The press had not been kind to them lately. Instead of the two of them being promoted as the victims, they were instead two arrogant teenagers who walked into a secured area. It didn't matter that the two of them had been cleared by the marine guards, all the press saw was the two of them in an altercation with some law enforcement officers.

Ron was worried about Kim. She had not been feeling well the past couple of days, especially in the mornings. Ron had picked her up the past couple of days a little late as she had been sick every morning.

"Ron!"

He twirled around to face Monique.

"OH hey Monique. Have you seen Kim?"

Monique grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I just left her hugging the porcelain throne. Everyone knows she has been getting sick in the morning and all know that the two of you spent the night together in that fancy hotel. Now have you two not been telling me everything?"

Ron was puzzled.

"What else do you want to know, we have told you everything?"

Monique gave him a look with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I mean I know the two of you love each other, but did you decide to prove it?"

Ron thought for minute.

"What do you mean?"

Monique rolled her eyes.

"Ron. The two of you spent the night in a honeymoon suite by yourselves. Then weeks later she starts getting sick in the morning. Now, what to you think everyone else would think."

Ron just stared back at her.

Monique rolled her eyes again and leaned forward to whisper into his ears. When she pulled back Ron's face could have matched Kim's hair. Ron raised a finger in the air.

"So everyone thinks we…… and now they think she is….."

Monique nodded.

"OOOOhhhh brother."

"Hey Ron."

Ron spun at the weak voice of Kim. He rushed to her side and took her arm. He noticed everyone in the hall was watching them.

"You okay KP?"

Kim nodded.

"I think so. I don't feel as bad after lunch. Right now I think I just need…."

"POSSIBLE! STOPPABLE! MY OFFICE NOW!"

Ron helped Kim to her feet and the two of them followed Barkin toward his office. Ron saw Bonnie whispering to a number of girls in her food chain gang. She flashed that grin that Ron knew was not good. The two teens entered Barkin's office and took the two seats in front of his desk. Barkin came in along with the school nurse. Barkin took a seat while Mrs. Potter the nurse took a seat beside him.

"Possible, Stoppable. I called you in here because I don't put much faith in rumors, but when I investigate and see facts that back up those rumors then I have to act. I am sure that the two of you are aware of what is going on."

Kim hesitated for a moment.

"Mr. Barkin. Uhhhhh… I am not sure what is going on. I have had a bug for the past few days, but that is about it. We had that mission a few weeks ago."

Ron turned to Kim and whispered into her ear. Her face immediately turned the color of her hair.

She took Ron's hand.

"Mr. Barkin, we can both swear that we have not done anything that would lead to that condition."

Barkin put his elbows on his desk, placed his chin on hands and looked at the teens.

"I will accept the fact of what the two of you say. But let me remind you that the entire school knows where both of you were before you went on that mission. Now, I know that the two of you travel unchaperoned a great deal. It speaks well of you and your parents that they trust you to travel like that. However, you were not on a mission at the time of the stay at that resort and the two of you shared a room."

Ron raised his hand.

"Technically, Mr. B. We were still on a mission, it just we took a little detour coming back. With the permission of our parents."

Barkin stared back at Ron for a moment.

"That may be true Mr. Stoppable. However, the fact is that the two of you are a well known couple in the school and in the public eye. You have known each other for better part of their lives. The fact that the two of you have spent time in detention for PDA lends more to your reputations. Add all that to the fact that the two of you slept unsupervised in a hotel room and the fact that Miss Possible has been sick the past few mornings lends to some interesting rumors. Now. The two of you have told me that nothing has occurred. I will accept that as fact. However, if what you have said is not true, then I would ask you to reconsider what you have said and at least contact the school nurse. Now, it is after lunch and I think the two of you need to go home. I will sign you out."

Kim sat up.

"Mr. Barkin, if you don't mind. We would rather finish out the day. If the rumor is out there as you say. Then if we go home after being called into your office would only lend more evidence to that rumor."

Barkin stopped for a moment then nodded.

"Okay, Miss Possible. That could well be true. You may go. The secretary will give you your hall pass. If at any time you need to speak to myself or the nurse, you know where to find us."

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Ron drove the Sloth out of the Student Parking Lot. Kim just didn't feel like driving. It wasn't that she really felt bad, but the whispering and pointing just out of her vision had driven her crazy. Both of them had collared Monique after class and gave her the lowdown on what had happened. She would make sure the facts got out, but right now the fiction was more fun than the fact. Luckily there was no cheer practice, after dealing with all the stares neither one of them was ready to deal with Bonnie.

Kim was silent as they pulled into traffic. Kim turned to Ron as he headed for Kim's house.

"I thought we were going to BN."

Ron shrugged.

"I didn't think you would want to. I mean you stomach is already upset and the food there is not really good for an upset tummy. Even one as beautiful as yours. Also, a lot of the students will be there. I thought you might have had enough of people staring at you for the day."

Kim put her hand on his leg and rubbed back and forth.

"Ron, my stomach is okay, though I might just get a coke or something. Plus, if we go hide then the rumors will just be worse. We need to go on like nothing is wrong, because it isn't."

Ron pulled through a parking lot to turn around and headed back to BN. They were just getting ready to pull in the parking lot when the Kimmunicator went off. Kim activated her wrist unit.

"What's the sitch Wade?"

Wade typed quickly on his keyboard.

"Drakken and Shego have been spotted in Sweden. I already have a ride ready."

Kim raised a finger at Ron before he could say anything.

"Pick us up at Bueno Nacho."

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Kim and Ron worked their way through some bushes lined the perimeter of the building were Wade told them Drakken and Shego were hiding. They glanced in one of the windows. They could see Shego sitting in a chair in across the room. Drakken was pacing back and forth across the room. There were a number of boxes piled up against one of the walls.

"Shego, why are we not in a regular lair?"

There was a bang as Shego slammed her chair down.

"DUH! The normal lairs are right where Kimmie and the sidekick would look. I don't think they would look for us in an old abandoned warehouse for a chocolate factory in Sweden."

Drakken inhaled deeply.

"Ahhhh, it smells just like CocoMoo."

"Well, breathe deep because you won't smell it where you are going."

Shego jerked up and fell back in her chair.

"Kim Possible?"

Shego scowled at Drakken as she stood up.

"Dr. D. Must you say that every time she shows up?"

Drakken wrung his hands out.

"Well, I guess it is a bad habit of mine."

Shego turned to Kim with a grin.

"Ohhhh, but I am going to enjoy this habit. Kicking your biscuit."

Kim slipped into her fighting stance.

"We'll see."

Shego drove at Kim while throwing a plasma ball. Kim ducked the plasma and kicked out at Shego. Shego blocked the kick and spun around to throw an elbow at Kim's head. Kim jumped expecting a leg sweep and caught the elbow right in her stomach. She gagged and fell to the floor. Shego looked down.

"Wow that was easy."

"KP!"

Ron, who had been dismantling the device Drakken had been building. He grabbed some paper off the lab desk and stuffed them in the pockets to his pants. Shego fired a plasma ball and incinerated the desk as he dove out of the way.

"Dr. D. Let's get out of here."

Shego grabbed Drakken and pulled him out the door. Ron heard a hovercraft take off and fly away. Ron ran to Kim's side. She lay on the floor gagging and throwing up.

Ron pulled her up into his arms and activated the Kimmunicator.

"Wade, Kim's hurt and I need to find a doctor's office fast and close."

Wade typed quickly and scanned his screen.

"Well, it's not a hospital but there is a clinic about a half mile away. I contact them and let them know you are coming."

Ron nodding and got Kim into his arms, she was pale and moaning. He gave her a little kiss.

"Hang on KP. I get some help for you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron pulled Kim's car into the garage of Kim's house then got out to run around the car and help her out. The Global Justice car had picked them up after they left the doctor's office. They had to take a regular flight because all the GJ assets were busy. Kim took his hand and he helped her to the door. Kim leaned on Ron as he helped her to the door. They were both exhausted . As he opened the door he was met by a red faced and glaring Mr. Possible.

"Both of you in the living room now! Young lady you sit over here. Ronald you stand over there."

Ron looked at Mr. Possible.

"Uh, MrDrP. Is there something wrong?"

Dr. Possible grabbed Ron and slung him against the wall.

"I SAID MOVE!"

Kim grabbed her father and spun him around to face her.

"DADDY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Mr. Possible stuffed a paper in Kim's face.

"YOUNG lady do you have an explanation for this?"

Kim looked at the paper and gasped. There was a picture of her being helped by Ron out of the clinic where he had taken her to be treated for the hit from Shego.

"TEEN HERO KIM POSSIBLE PREGNANT? GET'S AN ABORTION?"

Kim read the story quickly her face getting pale as she read. Apparently the clinic was actually an abortion clinic as well as a medical office. They had treated her as an emergency but a photographer had taken pictures of the two of them coming out. As Kim read she opened the paper for more of the story. She closed her eyes. There were pictures of the two of them from some distance while they were in the room at the resort. There was a clear set of three pictures of her from the back looking at Ron. The picture showed here taking off her robe. Since she was wearing a strapless bra and the photo were from just below her shoulders and up there was no doubt what the pictures implied. There were pictures of everything. Then there were stories from different students at the high school all confirming that Kim had been getting sick in the morning.

"Daddy. It's not like that."

Mr. Possible motioned for the two of them to follow him. Anne was sitting one the couch with more papers. The phone rang but no one answered it. James pointed to the TV.

Kim face began to tear. There on the TV was a video through the window of their room. Kim watched as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head then leaned forward like she was on top of someone. Ron appeared and Kim leaned forward to kiss him. She was pulled out of sight for a second when Ron appeared pushing up with his arms and looking down. You could not see them directly but with clothes flying around and one or the other of them appearing in the window looking down. His back moved up and down while his shoulders stayed still. Then he disappeared as he lowered himself down. As he did Kim's legs appeared waving in the air for a few seconds then disappeared. The tape ended at that moment. There was no doubt what it looked like.

Ron turned to Dr. Possible. The father of his girlfriend was glaring back at him.

"Mr.Dr.P. I know what it looks like. But nothing happened. I love Kim. But we haven't done anything like that. Please!"

James stared at Ron for a moment and spoke with clenched teeth.

"Ronald, right now I want you out of my house. I will decide IF and WHEN you will ever be allowed to see her again."

Anne stood up.

"James, calm down."

He turned to his wife, but didn't say a word as she glared back at him.

Kim was going to speak when her father turned to her.

"Kimberly if you say one word young lady you will be graduating from college before you will be allowed to speak to another boy much less Ron."

Ron took one step toward him.

"Please Dr.P. We didn't do anything."

James lurched across the room and pushed Ron who spilled to the floor. He knocked over a side table sending a lamp shattering to the floor.

"GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!"

"DADDY" Kim screamed as she ran to reach Ron, but her father grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"James!"

Anne ran to Ron and helped him get up. She ushered him to the door and in full view of her husband gave him a big hug and a kiss. Then she whispered something in his ear as he left. Ron stared back at her and nodded as he went out the door.

"DADDY HOW COULD YOU? Are you listening, don't you trust us? I am telling you nothing happened and I am not, was not pregnant!"

Kim forced herself to be calm. She looked calmly up at her father and spoke with a soft voice as her mother returned to the room.

"Daddy, nothing happened. We were fully clothed at all times. Ron built a wall of blankets and pillows between us in the bed. He was a perfect gentleman at all times and has always treated me with the greatest care and respect. He told the truth when he said nothing happened. I am telling you nothing happened. Now. I am going to ask you. You have always, always trusted me. You have let me live this life and trusted me to make the right decisions. Nothing happened. I was a little sick when we had to go on this last mission and Shego caught me in the stomach. It just took me out of the fight. Ron got me to the closest doctor he could find. We didn't know it was an abortion clinic until we just walked in the door. Now I will ask you and I want you to look me straight in the eye. Who are you going to believe? Ron and I or the news people who are always after us?"

Kim stood there waiting for her father to answer. He hesitated for a moment as he rubbed the back of his neck. Tears began to flow from Kim's face. She slumped and bowed her head. Mr. P stepped forward.

"Kimmiecub, I…."

Kim raised her hand.

"No daddy. I am not Kimmiecub anymore. You just answered my question quite clearly. I no longer have your trust. I am going to my room now. I would ask you to give me some privacy. You seem to have taken away everything else that matters to me."

Kim turned headed up the stairs to her room. She stopped faced her dad, her face soaked in tears.

"No matter what daddy. I love you."

"Kim."

James tried to speak to Kim after she had already left the room. A hand landed on his shoulder and spun him around. Anne stood there staring into his face trying to speak but couldn't. Her mouth was almost a snarl, but all of James' attention was on the raised, open hand of his wife. She worked her fingers a bit, and then slowly lowered her hand to her side, holding it in a clenched fist.

"Anne?" James said with wide eyes, and an almost shaky voice. Neither one of them had ever come this close to striking the other in their history as a couple.

Anne turned, reached down and grabbed the blanket off the couch and threw it into his arms. After she shook her head and left the room, the sound of the bedroom door slamming and locking came to his ears. He stood looking at the overturned table and shattered lamp. The papers lay strewn on the floor and the TV droned on. He closed his eyes and slumped onto the couch. Dropping the blanket he covered his face with his hands.

"OH my god what have I done?"

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That's it for my part now. Things seem to be falling apart for Kim and Ron now. Now it's in the capable hands of Whitem. Take it away partner.

Please leave any and all reviews. We appreciate it.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't suppose y'all would accept an apology from me saying that I'm sorry for making everyone wait this long for a new chapter? The ol' mundane life just tends to get in the way at times.

Let me say a big "Thank-You" to all those who are reading and reviewing this story, and Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter: CajunBear73, bthecatslayer, Solarstone, Ace Ian Combat, Star-Eva01, Zaratan, and Sir Sebastian. If any of you feel inclined to do so, please vote for us in this year's Fannies… It would be mucho appreciado! Again, we call ourselves Team WhiteCap…

Once again, that pesky disclaimer: Neither Captainkodak1 nor I own any of the characters involved in this story we are writing.

Trial of the Hearts

Chapter 7

Ron stumbled a bit as Anne gently gave him a shove from the Possible's household, but he didn't get very far as his feet caught on themselves. He would have performed a flawless face-plant in the front yard if he hadn't cartwheeled his arms.

After regaining his balance, Ron stood still for a bit trying to figure out what had just happened. _OK… Mr. Dr. P. thinks Kim and I did it… But we know we didn't, and Mrs. Dr. P. seems to believe us. This is so not good. How are we going to get him to believe us? _

Then he remembered what Kim's mom had done and said just before pushing him out the door. She had given him a hug, and whispered something into his ear that he would never forget: "Ronald… Please know that we have, and always will, love you like a son. James and I really do trust you with Kimmie, but James can be a bit… over-protective of his only daughter. You are the only one we would ever trust our daughters, and the rest of our families lives with. Come back tomorrow afternoon, and I should have James settled down by then."

The words that Kim's mom had said struck a cord with Ron, and he had never felt so important in his life until that moment when Kim's mom said those things to him. Ron straightened himself up, and proceeded to walk home.

When he was just a few yards from his front door, Ron had a thought. "Oh mann… I'll bet Mom and Dad have seen that video on TV also. "

…x x x x…

After entering his house, Ron headed straight towards the kitchen. Being thrown out of his girlfriend's house had worked up a thirst. Well, that, and it was a bit hot outside too. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw his parents sitting at the small kitchen table.

His father spoke first. "Ronald… Please, sit down."

Ron quickly grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and sat down popping the top. He took a sip and saw that both of his parents were not happy. His mother spoke next. "Ronald… we are very, very upset with you right now. Do you know why?"

"Umm… I… suppose you saw the…"

"Video? Yes, we have. It's on all the news channels Ronald." His father finished.

Tears were falling from his mother's eyes. "How COULD you Ronald? I never thought in my wildest dreams that you would… that you would… And on National TV no less!" Ron could hear both anger and sadness in his mother's voice, and he couldn't stand to see her crying like this.

"Now Dear…" Gene said, placing a hand on his wife's hand. "We haven't heard Ron's side of the story. You know how the media can put their own spin on things, and make it look like something completely different. Please Ron, tell us that it wasn't as things looked?"

Ron then told his parents everything that had happened that morning, and left out nothing. He so did not want a repeat of what had happened at the Possible's earlier. When he finished, he asked his parents a simple question.

"You believe me, don't you?"

His father once again spoke first. "Of course we do Ronald. You're mother here can just get a little emotional at times." He patted her folded hands. "Isn't that right, Dear?"

Taking one hand, Jean wiped tears from her face, and continued to hold onto her husband's hand with the other. "Can you forgive me Ronald? You know how I tend to jump to conclusions…"

"Of course Mom…" Ron said. "I understand completely. You don't have to be sorry for trying to be a good mother to me." Three chairs slid across a linoleum floor, and then a son hugged his parents, feeling the love and understanding coming from them.

After the shared hug, Ron said Good Night and went to his upstairs bedroom. He fell asleep happy with the knowledge that he had such understanding parents. He just wished that Kim's Dad hadn't been so… upset with him. He could understand why he had reacted the way he did, but that didn't make it right.

Just before the Sandman claimed Ron for the night, he remembered that he was to receive his award for Most Improved Student in just a few days. That would make him feel so much better. The only thing was, he had to share a long ride with one Mr. Steve Barkin.

…x x x x…

The next morning, Kim woke up feeling completely drained, even though she had about 7 hours of sleep. She was glad that it was a Saturday and she could sleep in. Her alarm didn't go off since she had forgotten to set it, and no one had bothered to come up to wake her.

Opting to take a shower later, Kim dragged a comb through her hair, and stumbled down to the kitchen. It wasn't until she reached her destination that Kim realized the house was quiet. Very quiet. Then she saw the note stuck to the fridge with a Rocket Ranger Fridge Magnet.

It was in her mother's hand writing, and it read:

_"Kimmie… You're father and I are taking the Tweebs to Lake Middleton for a quick fishing trip. We thought you would like to sleep in after what happened last night. We should be home just after 12 noon. We had breakfast skillets before leaving, and there are leftovers in the fridge if you want. Just heat on High for 2 minutes in the micro, and you're good to go. See you after 12… Love, Mom."_

Kim did feel a bit hungry, so she found the leftovers, popped it in the microwave, and sat down in their breakfast nook. The skillet her mom had made consisted of scrambled eggs, chunks of potato, ham, sausage, green peppers, and onions. It was after she had devoured the entire plate full that she realized that she must have really been hungry.

When Kim went back to the fridge for another glass of orange juice, she saw yesterdays pile of mail sitting on the counter. On the very top was an envelope from the Intercollegiate Cheerleading Association. She picked it up, opened it, and idly wondered what else they would be sending her.

She unfolded the single piece of paper that was enclosed, and her eyes increased in size as she read. She also started to mouth one word over and over while shaking her head side to side. "No… No… Noooo I can't believe this!"

Her first reaction was to tear the letter up, but she stopped herself just as her fingers started a tear. Instead, Kim sat down hard next to the table and dropped her head into her arms, her hair draping over the table.

…x x x x…

After waking up a bit earlier than usual, Ron had taken a chance and went to Kim's house earlier than what her mom had suggested. When he saw that the family van was missing from the garage and the Sloth was parked outside on the driveway, he knew that Kim was most likely home alone. After what had happened the previous evening, he was pretty sure that Kim wasn't with her parents.

He entered the house through the garage door, and immediately Ron heard soft crying coming from the kitchen. He walked in and saw Kim's form hunched over the table, her shoulders heaving. Immediately he was at her side.

"Kim? Kim…?" Ron said as he gently rubbed her back. "What's wrong?"

His girlfriend didn't say a word, and her hand snapped up, holding a piece of paper. He took it from her grasp, and read.

The top had an official seal, and the heading of "Intercollegiate Cheerleading Association". The body of the letter read as the following:

_Dear Miss Possible,_

_When the Cheerleading Association selected you to receive this award and recognition, it was because of your exemplary status as a student, and your incredible abilities as a cheerleader. Many young girls look up to you as a role model, and some even strive to be like you. _

_However, we have been disturbed by the recent media events in your life, and this causes us to feel much concern. We have no doubt that these rumors will be cleared in time, but until then, the board has decided to ask you not to attend the coming Meet and Leadership Camp. _

_As a result of this negative media attention you have been receiving as of late, your presence as a public figure in this situation may not only shine a negative light on the proceedings, but we are also afraid that your attendance could be disruptive to all those present. This includes not only the attending teams and judges, but the accompanying press that would most surely be following you. _

_We regret that we have had to take these steps, and we hope you realize it is best for all concerned that you not attend. We sincerely hope that these events will come to pass so that in the future you will be allowed to attend._

_Gladys Perkins_

_Secretary_

Ron didn't completely understand a few of the bigger words, but he knew exactly what the letter was saying. When he finished reading it, he looked at Kim and saw the sadness etched in her eyes. He didn't say a word, opened his arms, and held his girlfriend.

…x x x x…

For the rest of Saturday, and all of Sunday, Ron stayed at Kim's side, and did everything for her she had asked, without pause and without question. He hated to see Kim so down, but this rejection letter had really hit her hard. Kim was so hyped that she was selected, and was on cloud nine after receiving the initial letter informing her of everything she would be doing. It was a dream come true. Then everything went downhill.

When Monday arrived, Kim was feeling a bit better, but when they entered the doors of Middleton High, a simple greeting brought them down again. "Hi K…" It was Bonnie.

"So Kim… did you realize that there was an alternate also selected for the ICA things?"

"Don't tell me…" Kim dead-panned.

"Yup…" Bonnie said with an almost evil smile. "They selected me." Kim dropped her head and groaned, as Bonnie sauntered away feeling quite proud of herself.

Then another voice rang out. "Stoppable…" It was Mr. Barkin. "Here…"

"What's this?" Ron asked as he took a rather large manila envelope from Middleton High's 'Teacher of all trades'.

"It's your homework for Wednesday. Have it on my desk by tomorrow after school. I trust you won't have any problems getting it done?" He eyed Ron's red-headed girlfriend.

"But, why are you giving me homework for Wednesday on a Monday?" Ron asked with confusion evident on his face.

"Have you forgotten already?" Barkin growled. "Wednesday is the presentation award for Colorado's most improved student."

"That's _this_ Wednesday?" Apparently Ron had almost forgotten about it. "Awww Mannn."

…x x x x…

Monday and Tuesday were pretty much uneventful for the teens, as all they really had to deal with was Bonnie's snarky-ness, and Mr. Barkin breathing down their necks about PDA again.

It wasn't until Tuesday evening that Ron finally had the guts to go over to Kim's house, since he was still a bit leery of how her Dad would react to him being there. He needed some help with one final assignment he had for Mr. Barkin, and Ron was able to get a short extension on this one particular assignment. It was a report detailing both sides of the Global Warming debate, whether it was Man-caused, or a result of a natural cycle.

Wednesday morning came way too early for Ron, as Mr. Barkin insisted he be ready in front of his house to depart at 0500 hours. The drive to Denver was going to be about 3.5 hours, and Mr. Barkin wanted to be there early to scope out the venue that the awards were to be handed out in. He wanted nothing to go wrong when Ron took possession of the award.

…x x x x…

Bleary eyed but ready, on Wednesday morning Ron stepped out of his front door just as Mr. Barkin pulled up to the curb with his green SUV. Barkin rolled down the window just as the vehicle stopped. "Get the lead out Stoppable. We're two minutes behind."

Ron set his suit in the back seat, and then just as he plopped down in the front with Mr. Barkin, handed over the finished paper. "Good job, son. I knew you could do it. Now buckle up. I want you to read me your paper while I drive." Ron groaned, as he thought he would have been able to get some extra sleep during the ride.

Ron wasn't aware of Mr. Barkin's fascination with Al Gore, so after he finished reading the paper, Ron had to spend the rest of the ride listening to Mr. Barkin extol the virtues of Mr. Gore's book "An Inconvenient Truth".

…x x x x…

"Stoppable… Stoppable!" Ron felt a shake on his shoulder. "We're here. And did you even hear anything that I was telling you?"

"Ummm… " Ron had to think of something real quick. He wiped the bit of drool from his chin and said "Global warming is bad?"

Mr. Barkin humphed, and parked the car near the entrance of the Hotel. The Grand Mark Hotel was to be the place of the awards banquet in which Ron was to receive his award, along with other presentations.

A Bell Hop helped them with their luggage, and led Ron and Mr. Barkin to their 2nd floor room. There the two freshened up from their ride, and then headed down to checkout the room that the awards banquet was to be held in.

Mr. Barkin noted where all the emergency exits were, and nodded his approval while he inspected the wiring cables leading to the podium. He then went over the afternoon's schedule with Ron, who just nodded in agreement, and he started to feel a little nervous. Mr. Barkin immediately picked up on what the young teen was feeling.

The Teacher placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Son, don't let it get to you. You're only representing the entire student body from our county, Middleton High, and me. You have nothing to be nervous about."

"Gee, Thanks Mr. Barkin." Ron said with a small smile. "That makes me feel so much better…"

…x x x x…

The time finally arrived for the Awards Banquet to start, and just after everyone had a meal of chicken or fish with rice pilaf and vegies, the awards presentations started. There were two before Ron's presentation. One called "Going the Extra Mile" for students that went above and beyond what was expected during the school year, and "Best Student Teacher" for the one who most exemplified being in that position.

The banquets MC then announced the third award: "Next I would like to present an award for the 'Most Improved Student'. This award goes to the one individual that has brought up his or her grades from the brink of failure to a very respectable average. Mr. Ron Stoppable has done such a feat. He went from an almost D-Minus average his Junior year in High School all the way to an almost perfect average as a Senior. He came within two points of receiving an A+ average, and now has a strong A average." The MC held up a small award that was about 10 inches high. It was a wooden base that held a gold colored scroll which was partially un-rolled. The plaque on the bottom simply read, "Ron Stoppable, Most Improved Student, 2007".

"Ronald Stoppable attends Middleton High School, which is also represented by the schools faculty member, Mr. Steven Barkin. Mr. Stoppable, if you please?"

Ron rose from the table he and Mr. Barkin were seated at, and walked up and onto the stage. There was a small smattering of applause as he walked across the stage, and received the award from the MC. Ron then turned to the audience and stepped behind the podium that was covered with microphones.

"I would like to thank the entire faculty of Middleton High, and especially one Mr. Barkin. If it wasn't for him constantly pushing me to do my best, I honestly don't think I would be where I am today." Mr. Barkin wiped a small tear from his cheek as Ron continued. "I would also like to thank my girlfriend Kim Possible, for helping me on many long study nights."

Just as the last words escaped from Ron's mouth, he knew he had said something that he probably shouldn't have as a murmur passed through the audience. Suddenly a single voice rose from the crowd. "That's the guy that screwed Kim Possible on TV!" Suddenly there was pandemonium amongst all those in attendance.

Immediately Mr. Barkin was near the stage waving Ron to quickly come down the steps. The two dashed through a side Emergency door, which Steve had seen when the two had cased the room earlier in the day. It dumped them out in the back parking lot, not too far from his SUV.

About half way to the vehicle, a voice was suddenly heard behind them making the two stop in their tracks. "Was she any good?"

Ron and Mr. Barkin slowly turned around to see a small group of 5 to 6 reporters, with the one who had just called out standing in front. The only response they had was to drop their jaws.

"Huh…?" The said simultaneously.

"I'll take that as a yes." The reporter said while scribbling on a small pad of paper.

"We don't have to talk to you." Mr. Barkin said as he took a step closer to the reporter as he pointed at the man. Mr. Barkin then turned back around and spoke to Ron in a gruff voice. "Let's go Ron."

After Ron turned around, he felt the hand of his teacher gently push him towards the car. He didn't notice that a hand had also landed on the shoulder of Mr. Barkin, but he did heard the reporter's voice again. "Don't turn your backs on me…"

Steve Barkin slowly turned back around to face the reporter, and gently raised the man's hand to remove it from his shoulder. Immediately the reporter started screaming one word.

"Assault! Assault! This man just attacked me!" The other reporters behind him all took a step back from the three as they all knew enough to stay out of this confrontation.

The reporter now held his hand as if it was hurt, and he spoke in an almost excited voice while looking at Ron. "So, you screw Kim Possible and then hire a body guard to take care of anyone who attempts to report anything about it?"

This time it was Ron who took a step towards the reporter, who thought he saw the blonde boys eyes glow blue for a split second. Ron's right hand was clenched in a fist, and the reporter took a slow step backwards. Ron felt Mr. Barkin's hand lay on his shoulder.

"He's not worth it, son." The teacher said under his breath into Ron's ear. He stepped around between the reporter and Ron, facing his student. "He can claim assault on you too."

Ron then saw Mr. Barkin's eyes light up in realization. "Don't touch him, or he will have a case." He paused. "But however, he touched me first… That allows me to do this…"

Steve Barkin's large right hand swung around as the teacher turned back towards the reporter, and caught the man right below the eye, spinning him around. He fell without a sound, his pad of paper and pen falling to the ground. He was out cold.

…x x x x…

The next day's newspaper had a small article in the back underneath the Educational section of the paper:

_After the State High Schools Awards Banquet last night, a dispute was witnessed in which a student, teacher, and reporter had a minor altercation. The reporter in question started the fight when he placed his hand on the teacher's shoulder, initiating contact. The scuffle was short-lived as the reporter in question went down after just one punch. _

_There were a number of witnesses, and charges were never filed by either party. The reporter involved in the altercation was last seen at a local hospital where he could only eat soup broth from a straw. His prognosis by the doctors at the time was very good._

_The names have been with-held from this report until all details of the altercation have been collected by local authorities._

To be continued…

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**Trials of the Heart  
Chapter Eight**

* * *

Kim held her books close to her chest as she walked through the hall on the way to her locker. There still were the whispers behind her back. She had a good idea what was being said. The altercation with Barkin, Ron and the reporter was the big news. The police came by one day and interviewed Barkin and Ron. The reporter wanted to press charges but there were too many witnesses supporting Barkin and Ron's side. Kim didn't even turn on her TV now unless she had put in a DVD. If she played any music, it came from CDs. Ron did just about the same. They could not even have a decent date. The minute they set foot in public cameras and reporters seem to appear out of the ground. The news media had gone crazy after they found out that she was asked not to attend the Camp, then Barkin hitting the reporter at the Awards Ceremony just added fuel to the fire. She and Ron had always had good press. Now all the bad press just seemed to cast a pall over their entire lives.

One good thing that did come out in the news was a press release from the clinic that had helped her. The director of the clinic stood up in front of a wave of reporters and stated that Kim Possible had been treated for flu like symptoms that had been aggravated by the punch to the stomach she had received from Shego. He also stated that two doctors and three nurses were all in attendance in treating Kim and all had signed affidavits that she had not received an abortion, that she was not pregnant, but simply very sick.

Something else occurred then that surprised Kim and brought tears to her eyes. Nearly one third of the teams that were to compete in the Cheerleading contest were refusing to attend because of the treatment Kim had received. Of the two thirds still planning to attend most were taking the bare minimum to compete. On top of all that, three of the other cheerleaders who were supposed to participate resigned and were refusing to attend. It took Kim appearing at a news conference asking the teams to attend and asking the other cheerleaders to reconsider and attend. Most took Kim up on her offer. However, the entire fiasco had hurt the program for that year and most of thought it would be a number of years for the event to ever recover. It was the opinion of most everyone that the event would never recover until Kim Possible was given her rightful place at the event.

Ron had run into problems himself. The news media had jumped all over Ron's award and were asking for investigations for preferential treatment. None of them believed that anyone could make a turn around like that while playing football. Investigators from the state had arrived within the week to examine Ron's records and interview all of his teachers. Then they asked Ron what he had done to improve himself that much. That led to Kim being called in and grilled as to what assistance and/or help she had given him. Even her parents and his parents were interviewed. Finally none of the investigating teams could find anything wrong, but some of the news media still screamed cover-up.

Ron had it worse on the football field. The defense targeted him at the outset of every game. Kim feared for him every time he ran out on the field. Most of the time, he was limping when he came off the field. However, the defenses found out that he was not a pushover and that the offense protected him well. There a number of safeties and backs those were laid flat on their backs when they tried to stop one. One player from an opposing team swore he had been hit by a truck when Ron ran him over. All the games required extra security when Kim and Ron were in attendance as it was worse now than ever. It came to a point where Kim and Ron arrived and left the games in a Highway Patrol car with escort.

"Hey KP."

Kim closed her eyes and sighed as two arms enveloped her from behind. Ron pulled her tight against him for a moment then turned her around to face him. A small smile came across her face as she looks up at Ron. He had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and plenty of worry. She was sure she didn't look much better.

"Hey Kimmie, I'll be sure to say hello to all the team for you."

Kim closed her eyes then forced a bright smile on her face as she turned to face Bonnie.

"I am sure you will be right up to your normal abilities Bonnie, just like you did when you were Captain."

Bonnie's face flushed.

"Just what does that mean?"

Kim sighed and smiled again.

"Well I seem to remember the last time you were Captain of the Cheerleaders was _such_ a fantastic success. Have a good time!"

Kim took Ron's arm and they walked past a fuming Bonnie. Bonnie reached out and grabbed Kim and spun her around to face her.

"NO ONE talks to me that way!"

Bonnie's hand appeared and there was a crack of a slap. Kim's head snapped to the right, and then came back up, her cheek starting to redden. Several students stepped between the two of them. Bonnie started to open her mouth when Barkin grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Rockwaller, get you books and head for the office. You are suspended for rest of the week."

Bonnie's eyes grew big.

"Buu…uuu..uut Mr. Barkin the Cheer Conference…I…"

Barkin stared down at Bonnie.

"I will be informing the leaders of the Conference that you will not be attending. I believe the rules of the Conference are that no one can attend who have been suspended for the last 60 days, especially for assaulting another student."

Bonnie tried to speak but couldn't. Her face went red with anger as she turned to Kim.

"YOU! It's always YOU! You always ruin everything for me!"

She jumped at Kim but was held back by Barkin.

"You just earned another two days suspension. Now move, get to the office."

Another teacher appeared and took Bonnie by the arm and led her off. Barking turned to Kim and Ron. He looked at Kim's face.

"Do you need to see the nurse?"

Kim shook her head.

"No sir, I think we should just get to class."

"BEEP beep be beep"

Kim groaned and pulled out the Kimmunicator. Wade's face appeared on the screen.

"Kim, Ron, Dr. Director needs to see you in her office immediately. She just called Mr. Barkin and cleared it with him. Everything has been cleared by the School Board and Mr. Barkin. Head for a tube as soon as you can."

Kim and Ron looked at Mr. Barkin. He nodded.

"Go ahead. I'll sign you out and will send any class materials to your homes."

Kim and Ron rolled their eyes.

"Just what else can go wrong? The news media is going to eat up what's happened with Bonnie. I am sure that they will scream preferential treatment."

Barkin shook his head.

"I don't think so. There were too many witnesses. I will say you had a poor choice of words but it's nothing more than she has dished out over the years. Part of her suspension will be no talking to the press. Now get moving. I've got Bonnie to deal with. I would suggest leaving through the cafeteria. I saw some news vans outside the school."

Kim and Ron nodded. Ron put his arm around Kim.

"Thanks Mr. Barkin. We should be able to get to GJ from there without being seen."

* * *

They arrived at GJ by the tube near Kim's house and were taken directly to Dr. Director's office. Dr. Director was not there at the time, so the two of them waited silently. Kim swore she could hear her heart pounding. They had called in before, but with everything that had been happening both of them expected the worst. Will Du did not help matters. He just sneered at the two of them as they passed by on the way to Dr. Director's office. Both of them jumped when the door opened and Betty walked in. Both of them caught their breaths when she turned and code sealed her door. She only did that when something important was to be said. She crossed the room and sat behind her desk. Her eye fastened onto the two teens.

"Kim, Ron, I wanted to take this chance to tell you how sorry I am for the troubles that you are facing. I feel partially responsible for a lot of it. If the troops at that center had been better briefed along with the participating law enforcement entities that rather unfortunate event would have never happened. And if I had not been busy with so many drills I would have sent some troops after Drakken and Shego in Europe that time and you would not be facing the aftermath of that debacle. But that is water under the bridge and there is little we can do about it."

Kim and Ron relaxed a little and gently took each other's hand. Kim nodded to Dr. Director.

"Thank you Dr. Director. We appreciate it. But we also know that there was little that you could have done in those situations. As for Drakken and Shego have you gotten any information on their whereabouts?"

Betty nodded.

"Yes, we have reliable information that the two of them are headed for the Far East. Right now they are hiding out in a new base in Asia. We need the two of you to go in, destroy the lair and capture the two of them."

Kim and Ron sat up. Finally, they would have some action and a chance to get Drakken and Shego once and for all. Then they noticed Dr. Director grimacing.

Kim's face dropped.

"Why do I have the feeling that the other shoe is about to drop?"

Dr. Director looked up both of them and sighed.

"Kim, Ron, I fought this as hard as I could but I get orders also. The committee decided in lieu of the "difficulties" the two of you have been experiencing it was agreed that another Global Justice agent would accompany you on this mission."

Kim closed here eyes for a moment.

"Let me guess. Will Du."

Dr. Director nodded.

"I am sorry but there is nothing I can do. He will meet you in the hovercraft bay. Kim, you will be in command, however Will has the power to override your decisions and operate on his own if the need arises."

Kim and Ron groaned. At least he was not in complete command. Kim shook her head.

"Okay Ron, let's get changed and get this over with. Looks like our quiet weekend just turned into a busy one."

Kim, Ron and Will slowly approached the lair opening. The three mile trek through the jungle had not been pretty. Will had constantly groused about the direction they were taking, that the trail they were taking would get them captured, and that in his opinion they need to enter the base by a different route. Now they stopped before attempting entrance to the lair.

Will sneered at Kim and Ron.

"Listen amateurs, go in the way you want to. I know better and will exercise my prerogative to go my own way if I see the need. You go ahead; I will rescue you from Shego and Drakken within the hour."

With that he turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Kim and Ron just looked at each other and shrugged. Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pocket and stuck his tongue out at the retreating Will.

"Pbbbbhhhhtttt"

Kim patted Ron on his arm.

"Okay, let's go. The sooner we get in the sooner this will be over and we can ditch Will and get back home."

Ron nodded and followed Kim into the air vent that Wade had located. This was a larger vent than the one Will wanted to use. Will told them that they would surely be on watch for them to use the large vent. The two teens had traveled for several minutes, working their way through the maze of twists and turns. They were half way to their destination when they heard a resounding crash somewhere from inside the lair. Kim turned and looked back at Ron. Ron shook his head that he didn't know. Kim started off again heading for their destination.

Kim stopped at the junction of two of the vents and one vent. She glanced down into the vent and saw that it entered one of the storage rooms. She slipped to the side and let Ron reach forward and grab the vent grid. Kim pulled out her laser lipstick and cut the vent loose. Ron pulled the vent up and out of the hole, while Kim attached a cable to the top of the vent. Ron pointed to the hole.

"Ladies first!" he whispered.

Kim grinned and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the end of his nose. Dropping the cable into the room she slid down to the floor. Ron quickly followed. They stood still and listened for any noise. Kim slowly slipped across the floor and to the door. She listened first then checked the door for any sensors. Seeing and feeling no sensors she took the handle of the door in her hand and slowly turned it. There was a slight click as the lock opened. Kim froze and listened for any reaction. Then she put her eye to the door crack and slowly pulled the door open. The light in the hallway was dim; being lit by only floor lights every few feet. No one was in sight. Kim pulled the door open and looked both ways. She quickly stepped into the hall and hid behind a crate lined up against the wall on the other side of the hall. Ron stepped out into the hall closing the door silently behind him and joined Kim.

They glanced up and down the hall before they moved out toward the center of the lair. They passed several more storage rooms before they started approaching the end of the hall. This was well lit by the light coming from the windows in the door to the hall. Kim and Ron kept low until they were up against the door. Sliding slowly up the door they glanced out of the window into the main area of the lair. They both groaned and rolled their eyes at the sight before their eyes. Will was chained up against the rock face of the far wall. They were about to move back down the hall when a small ball fell at their feet and started to emit a gas. Both of them reached for their masks but where overcome quickly. After they fell to the floor Shego strode into the light wearing a gasmask.

* * *

Kim and Ron slowly opened their eyes. They were strapped into two separate chairs facing each other. They looked around to see a thoroughly disgruntled Will hanging from the chains where they had first seen him. Shego stepped into their sight.

"Well, well, well, our two sleeping beauties are awake. You know we would have never known you were here but ole spineless over here cracked like an egg shell and told Dr. D and me everything. He told us which vent you were using and which room you were going to drop into. All we had to do is wait. I must say you were smart enough to use air vents that could support your weight."

Shego cocked her thumb over at Will.

"Brillant over there tried to use a vent just big enough for him to crawl through. Problem was that those vents can't take a lot of weight. He snapped one section right out. It's a wonder you didn't hear the crash. He was also so nice as to get trapped in the bent up remains of the vent he was in. He couldn't move a muscle. By the way since when do you two have to put up with such idiots?"

Kim rolled her eyes.

"We didn't want him, but we were not given a choice. "Due to recent events, GJ didn't trust us to handle ourselves doing what we have been doing for years."

Shego nodded.

"By the way. I know this sounds weird, but sorry for catching you in the stomach the other time. I thought you were a little off you game. For what it's worth, when all that crud hit the airwaves about you getting an abortion. I laughed so hard I fell out of me chair."

Shego caught the glare from Kim and held up her hands.

"Woah princess, what I was laughing about was that I knew you and I knew Stoppable. I knew that both of you have way too much class to get into that kind of trouble."

Kim stared over at Will and snarled.

"So the number one agent for GJ cracked like a shell huh. Gee who would ever have thought? What did you use on him?"

Shego laughed.

"USE ON HIM?" Shego laughed.

"I didn't use anything on him. I just fired up a little and put my hand near his face and he sang like a little bird."

Kim turned a glanced with contempt at Will. Will turned his head to look another direction. Shego stepped between Kim and Ron and bent over so her face was level with theirs.

"Anywhooo, now that we have the prelims out of the way, now we get down to business. I am not going to ask if you have any backup. I took the liberty of searching you and removing any little surprises you might have been carrying."

Shego smiled at Ron.

"I must say Kimmie, when you pick something you pick prime stuff. Ronnypoo here has definitely grown into his new body."

Shego didn't know whose face turned redder Kim's or Ron's.

"Okay, now I am going to flip a coin to decide if one of you is coming with us. I am not including tweety over there. Taking him would be a favor to you guys. Nope, but taking one of you with us as a little hostage might be the answer. But come to think of it, taking one of you would only make the other come after us. Soooo, I guess we will take both of you or neither of you."

Shego flipped the coin and looked at it.

"Well, looks like the two of you are coming with us. Now be good little hostages and don't make any trouble. Dr. D is about ready to try his new device. After the tests we will be packing everything up to head to our new lair with our new friends. Taking the two of you along will keep GJ off of us until we are safe. Then we will let you go home. Look at it this way. Staying all tied up for a few days will keep you two out of trouble. That seems to be something the two of you are experts at recently."

Shego laughed as she walked off.

Kim glared at the ebony haired villain as she disappeared through a set of swinging doors.

"Where is Rufus?"

Ron nodded to the side to a small cage sitting on a nearby table. Rufus sat in it with his arms crossed and sulking. Kim shook her head.

"Well, takes care of that idea."

She turned to Ron.

"You got any ideas?"

Will's voice came from across the room.

"Hey, I supposed to be a part of this team too."

Kim snorted.

"OH, Y-E-A-H, you sure are. Let's see. You went off by yourself when we advised not to. Then you got captured doing exactly what we told you not to do. Then you told them everything and sold us out getting us captured in the mean time. We can do without very well please and thank you. Dr. Director is gonna love hearing about all of this."

Will's face turned a brilliant red. Kim swore that she could hear him grinding his teeth from across the room. She turned her attention back to Ron.

"Well, we waited long enough I think, you ready?"

Ron nodded.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

Ron twisted his mouth and popped a small device out between his teeth. Kim did the same. Ron clenched his teeth on the device and it fired a small laser beam. Turning his head, he cut the strap holding his right wrist and his right upper arm. Just as he finished cutting the strap the device died. Ron spat the device on the floor, then spit to the side.

"We need to talk to Wade about getting those things to taste better."

Kim was unstrapping herself as she nodded.

"We'll take it up with him later. Let's get out of here."

Ron jerked his finger towards Will.

"How about him?"

Kim rolled her eyes.

"I guess we better get him loose."

She went over to the control panel and found the button to release the shackles on Will. He stumbled to the floor when he was released. He was about to open his mouth when Kim was in his face.

"Not one word. You have nearly botched this whole operation from the start. You were to assist us not order us around or take off on your own. Now we need to find out what Drakken and Shego are up to, stop them and get out of here. Now if you can't deal with being you us leave, just try and not get captured again."

Will's face turned red and got ready to say something then shut his mouth. Kim smiled and turned to Ron.

"Let's go."

Kim and Ron moved through the doors to the labs with Will following. They moved down the hall to a point where they found the main lab. Kim looked in to see Drakken working on some machine while Shego was directing some goons packing boxes up. Kim and Ron charged into the room.

"Stop right there Drakken."

Drakken glanced up.

"How did you get free? Never mind. SHEGO!"

Two bolts of green plasma announced the arrival to the green suited villainess.

"I'm on it. Well princess seems the two of you got free, again. Now, we do the same old thing."

Shego threw a right punch that Kim blocked and came back with a sweep kick. Shego leapt up over her leg and came back down with a high kick. Kim flipped backwards away from the kick and delivered a high kick of her own. The two women fought back and forth as Ron ran toward Drakken.

Drakken was trying to get what appeared to be a laser ready to fire when Ron appeared in front of him.

"Gaaahhh, the buffoon! All I have to do is press one button and the doom laser will be ready. Then I can rid myself of the two of you permanently."

"Stop! In the name of Global Justice I place you under arrest."

Drakken looked around to see Will standing there with his hand up. Drakken turned to Ron.

"What's his problem?"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"Ohhh dude, don't even ask. Ever had to work with someone who thinks they know everything?"

Drakken thought for a moment.

"Actually yes, Professor Dementor is so…."

"DRAKKEN!"

Drakken jumped as Shego yelled at him. He could see her glaring at him as she fought Kim. He started to enter a code on the control panel when Will yelled again.

"Now you asked for it."

Drakken turned to see Will pointing his wrist at him. Will pressed a button and two small wires flew out missed Drakken and embedded themselves in the control panel. The laser began to beep and whine with smoke coming out of the cracks in the casing. He faced Shego and screamed.

"SHEGO! It's going to blow!"

Shego flipped away from Kim, grabbed Drakken and flipped a salute.

"Later Princess, to bad you aren't going with us."

Shego disappeared down a hallway.

Ron ran past Will toward Kim.

"We need to get out of here, NOW!"

Will turned and pointed to where Shego and Drakken had disappeared.

"We need to follow them!"

Kim shook her head.

"They will have sealed the hallway behind them besides we need to get out of here and warn the villagers to get away."

Kim and Ron did not wait for Will, but turned and ran from the lair. Once outside they stopped and found Will had followed them out. He ran past them as he spoke into his wrist communicator.

"I need a full evacuation team for the villagers. Team Possible have caused an incident in the lair and it will blow soon. We need to get the people out of here now."

Kim and Ron stood watching incredulously as Will disappeared into the jungle. They quickly ran after him as the explosions started inside the lair.

Kim and Ron sat in front of Dr. Director's desk. They had not been given a chance to clean up or even go home after they got back from the mission. Four security guards met them when they landed and took them straight to Dr. Director's office. Kim had filed their mission report on the way back to headquarters, but something told them that things were not good.

Dr. Director stepped into the room and sat down at her desk. She eyed the two teens in front of her desk for a few minutes and didn't speak. Ron got uncomfortable after a few minutes and leaned forward to speak.

"Ahhh, Dr. Director, is anything….."

"Mr. Stoppable, please wait until I have spoken."

Kim snapped to her feet.

"NOW just wait a minute. We were dragged here without being told a thing. We went in completed the mission with no help from Will. Then…."

"MISS POSSIBLE, SIT DOWN!"

Kim's mouth snapped shut when Dr. Director yelled at her. Ron reached up and took her hand pulling her down into her seat.

Dr. Director rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Kim, Ron. Please forgive me for yelling at you. I have read your report and Will's report and there appear to be substantial differences in the reports, to the point of wondering if they represented two separate missions. Will reported that it was you were captured early crawling through the large intakes. He was able to infiltrate the lair and was almost captured by the other forces when Mr. Stoppable told them everything about the mission. Will stated only his great skill as an operative allowed him to escape capture. He was able to release the two of you and ordered you out of the lair. At this point both of you attacked Drakken and Shego out of a thirst for revenge for what appeared to be mistakes on your parts. During the altercation Mr. Stoppable caused a short in the device that lead to the explosion that leveled the jungle for a mile and damaged the nearby village. He also stated that you wanted to pursue Drakken and Shego instead of warning the villagers. He immediately ordered the two of you out while he opened communications and started the orders to evacuate the village.

Kim's jaw hit her chest.

"Have you read our report?"

Dr. Director nodded. "As have the entire committee. They reviewed both reports. What do you have to say?"

Ron snarled. "The only thing he got right was that he called in for the evacuation. The rest is pure fantasy."

Dr. Director sat back in her chair and closed her eye.

Kim looked at her.

"Dr. Director, you believe us don't you?"

Dr. Director leaned forward looking at the two teens.

"It really doesn't matter what I believe but what does matter is what the committee believes. I hate to say the Will has been the committee's darling for sometime. That and with all the negative press that the two of you have been receiving they think you fabricated your report to cover for the fact that you used the mission to attempt revenge for what you think they have done to you when in reality all that has been happening has been entirely your fault."

Kim and Ron sat in shock as Dr. Director continued.

"They are in the middle of discussing whether or not to press charges against you."

There was a knock at the door and Will walked in with a smug look on his face.

"Dr. Director, the committee sent me in here to complete the briefing. I…"

There was another knock at the door and the head of GJ Intelligence walked in glaring at Will.

"Dr. Director, I think you should see this."

The agent handed her a DVD.

"We recovered this from the security system in Drakken's lair. It is a full recording of everything that happened in the lair."

Will's smirk disappeared and Kim could swear the sweat started to pour from his face.

"Dr. Director, I don't think we need to embarrass the two of them anymore that what has already occurred. I will be happy to deliver the disk to the committee so that they could see it."

"I don't think that will be necessary Mr. Du."

Will whirled around to see the Chairman and most of the Committee filing into Dr. Director's office.

"I believe that the video will vindicate your report. Or is Miss Possible's report the one that is correct. Need I remind you the penalty for faking an action report?"

Dr. Director took the disk, turned in her chair and placed the disk in the player behind her. The screen on the wall came to life.

* * *

The Chairman of the Global Justice sat back from the table in the dining room. Kim and Ron settled down in their chairs after the large meal that had just been served them. They both wore clean GJ uniforms as their mission clothes were being laundered. The Chairman after viewing the DVD, offered Kim and Ron the opportunity for get cleaned up then have a meal in the private dining room.

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, I hope that you will allow us to regain your confidence in the future. I regret our prior actions, it's just…"

Kim smiled at the Chairman.

"That Will is agent number one and we are just amateurs who tried to cover our mistakes?"

The Chairman grimaced.

"Okay, we deserved that. It's just that…"

Ron leaned forward.

"That Team Possible has been getting a lot of bad press and it was easier to believe that we had screwed up again than to believe your agent number one was lying through his teeth. What's going to happen to Will?"

The Chairman leaned back and grinned at the two teens.

"We are going to let Betty decide his punishment."

Will stood rigidly straight in Dr. Director's office. He had remained in that position after the DVD had played. The Chairman whispered something into Dr. Director's ear then invited Kim and Ron to follow him so that they could get cleaned up and get something to eat. Dr. Director had yet to speak directly to Will. She stood and walked over to face him.

"Agent William Du, you are guilty of filing a false action report. You are also guilty of cowardice in the face of the enemy, libel and slander of fellow agents, gross insubordination and a few other things I haven't thought of yet. You are hereby relieved of your field agent status and will be reduced three grades. You will be reassigned to analysis of intelligence; there you will stay until we decide whether or not a Court Marshall is in order. Only your past service is warding that off at this time."

Will started to open his mouth when Dr. Director stopped him.

"Don't say a word. You will leave this office; I have already directed agents to your room where they have removed any and all field equipment as well as any sensitive data. You are relieved of your class one security status and will be reduced to a class three status. You are dismissed. You are hereby ordered to report to your new station immediately. The security guards outside will take you there. You are dismissed."

Will shook visibly as he saluted, turned and left the office. Dr. Director just shook her head as she filed the DVD in the action report. He raised her head at a knock at her door.

"Come in."

Kim and Ron entered wearing their mission clothes. Dr. Director smiled and waved Kim and Ron to the seats in front of her, but Kim and Ron remained standing. Kim took Ron's hand as she spoke.

"If you don't mind Dr. Director, we will stand as we are not staying. We are leaving now. At this point Ron and I have to talk about what has happened. While we have every right to walk out of here asking you not to contact us anymore, the Chairman has asked very, very nicely that we continue to work with you. We agreed to continue only under our terms, that we have total autonomy in operating on our missions with no oversight from Global Justice."

Dr. Director nodded.

"Agreed."

Kim nodded back and the two of them left the office. Dr. Director smiled as the two closed the door as they left.

"Good luck you two."

Agent William Du sat at his desk staring at the pile of papers and the active computer in front of him. Off to his left was a small TV tuned to a news channel, the bottom right of the screen showing the word 'Mute'. The picture on the TV was of Kim and Ron waving to a large crowd of people, who seemed to be applauding for some reason or other.

Will glanced out over the room at the other agents in the room. Most of them had half the years of service that he had. The story for his being there was that Dr. Director wanted more experience in the intelligence room. He looked back at the TV just as a close up of the two teens was displayed, and he immediately threw his half-cup of cold coffee at the screen, making a small mess.

He muttered a number of oaths under his breath as he turned back to his screen.

"Agent Du?"

He turned to see one of agents in charge of gathering the intelligence from various sources.

"What can I do for you Agent Price?"

Agent Price handed him a few sheets of paper.

"This is some new intelligence on Dr. Drakken and Shego. I thought that since you had dealt with them before and that Team Possible was looking for them that this information would be important."

Du read over the report then looked back at Agent Price as he handed the papers back to her.

"Has this been confirmed by any other sources?"

Agent Price shook her head.

"No, but the information comes from an excellent source."

Du glanced back over the information then shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll look into it but until more information comes in I'll put a hold on publication."

Agent Price's face soured.

"Sir, this information could have a great impact on Team Possible's looking for Dr. Drakken and Shego. I feel that we need to pass…"

Will's voice rose a bit.

"Agent Price, just who has more experience here? I will watch over this information. Please tell the computer to route all information about this straight to me."

Agent Price stammered.

"But Agent Du, that is against protocol, all incoming information is suppose…."

Will's voice turned hard.

"Agent Price. You will do as you are order. Route all information on this straight to me and I will take care of it. Now return to your station. On the way there, put that information in the shredder."

Will turned to his console and pulled up the information she had just shown him. Agent Price headed for her desk and stopped at the shredder. She glanced over at the TV and then back at Du. It was well known that Du had a strong dislike for Team Possible. She pulled some papers from the printer and ran them through the shredder. Then returning to her desk she did as she was ordered. But, she also put a trace on the information concerning Dr. Drakken and Shego. Now all information would go to Du's desk, but it would also save it into another file in her station and it would not show up anywhere.

Will watched as Price returned to her station. He turned and began to work on the data before him. Over his shoulder he heard the shredder run. A small smile crossed his face. He glanced at the report in front of him and hit the delete key and confirmed with his command code. The report disappeared from the screen. He sat back and a smile crossed his face. It was only a matter of time and he would have his revenge.

* * *

This is the Captain. Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. My pal Whitem is up next.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Hey there everyone! It is I, whitem. First and foremost, let me give everyone a HUGE apology for taking so long to get this chapter finished. It's entirely my fault, and I will try very hard not to let it happen again. Captainkodak1 has shown great patience with me, and for that I am eternally grateful. This chapter was more of a collaboration between the two of us than the others as we wanted to get all the details correct… So it was not completely written by me. The Good Captain deserves just as much credit.

Let me shout out a HUGE Thank-You to everyone who read and left a review for the previous chapter: Kwebs, CajunBear73, Comet Moon, and Some1outthere… PLEASE tell your friends! We would like more reviews than this… Thanks.

Disclaimer: Neither captainkodak1, nor I whitem own any of the characters involved in this story.

Chapter 9

Previously on "Trial of the Hearts"…

"Agent Du?"

He turned to see one of agents in charge of gathering the intelligence from various sources.

"What can I do for you Agent Price?"

Agent Price handed him a few sheets of paper.

"This is some new intelligence on Dr. Drakken and Shego. I thought that since you had dealt with them before and that Team Possible was looking for them that this information would be important."

Du read over the report then looked back at Agent Price as he handed the papers back to her.

"Has this been confirmed by any other sources?"

Agent Price shook her head.

"No, but the information comes from an excellent source."

Du glanced back over the information then shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll look into it but until more information comes in I'll put a hold on publication."

Agent Price's face soured.

"Sir, this information could have a great impact on Team Possible's looking for Dr. Drakken and Shego. I feel that we need to pass…"

Will's voice rose a bit.

"Agent Price, just who has more experience here? I will watch over this information. Please tell the computer to route all information about this straight to me."

Agent Price stammered.

"But Agent Du, that is against protocol, all incoming information is suppose…."

Will's voice turned hard.

"Agent Price. You will do as you are ordered. Route all information on this straight to me and I will take care of it. Now return to your station. On the way there, put that information in the shredder."

Will turned to his console and pulled up the information she had just shown him. Agent Price headed for her desk and stopped at the shredder. She glanced over at the TV and then back at Du. It was well known that Du had a strong dislike for Team Possible. She pulled some papers from the printer and ran them through the shredder. Then returning to her desk she did as she was ordered. But, she also put a trace on the information concerning Dr. Drakken and Shego. Now all information would go to Du's desk, but it would also save it into another file in her station and it would not show up anywhere.

Will watched as Price returned to her station. He turned and began to work on the data before him. Over his shoulder he heard the shredder run. A small smile crossed his face. He glanced at the report in front of him and hit the delete key and confirmed with his command code. The report disappeared from the screen. He sat back and a smile crossed his face. It was only a matter of time and he would have his revenge.

…x x x x…

While Agent William Du leaned back in chair feeling quite smug about himself, he got another idea. Quickly he went back to his computer screen and brought up his Trash file. He had not emptied it yet, so he was able pull up the document again. He quickly created a new Folder on his desktop, saved the report in it, and then password protected the Folder so no one else could open it.

He labeled the file with a code that he thought word work quite well, even though it was quite simple, 1116-1819. The numbers represented the letters in the alphabet, and stood for KP-RS.

He then re-opened the document that Agent Price had given him earlier, and started to make a few changes.

The original document was a transcribed Telegram, and read the following:

Drakken and Shego spotted heading towards a US Dept of Energy Facility stop

Facility has sensitive information concerning a highly sensitive laser system called AVLISstop

Conclusion for reason possible theft: Nuclear

This is how the document read after Du made his changes:

Drakken and Shego spotted heading towards a US Dept of Energy Facility stop

Facility has sensitive information concerning a highly sensitive laser system stop

Conclusion for reason of possible theft: Unclear

He then pulled up his Nanosoft Words program, imported the changed document onto an official GJ template, and saved it to his secure folder. The next thing Agent Du did was to pull up his email program, and in the "To" entry field he typed in "Team Possible".

In the body of the email, he typed a simple sentence. "New information on Drakken and Shego, see attached." He attached the changed document, clicked the "High Priority" moniker, and hit SEND. The last task Will Du had to perform was to send a message to the US Department of Energy to inform them that there was to be an eminent break in

From her desk, Agent Price could see a look of determination on Will Du's face, and idly wondered what he was working on so feverishly.

…x x x x…

By the time Wade had contacted Kim and the two heroes were en route to the US Dept. of Energy, it was starting to get dark. Kim pulled up in front of the building and parked the Sloth right in front of the main entrance.

"Any security we should be aware of Wade?" Kim asked her tech guru via the Kimmunicator built into the dash of her car.

"There are 4 armed guards, and all secure entrances in the building have coded locks."

"The guards know we're here, right?" Ron asked.

"I'm assuming the GJ agent who sent me the intel. has already let them know. I'll see if I can confirm. You may as well go inside and see if Drakken and Shego have shown up yet."

The two young heroes walked up to the front entrance, and when Kim tested one of the swinging doors it opened right up. She looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow, motioned him to be quiet, and they slipped inside.

Right away they saw a security desk, but there was no one manning the station. Kim walked behind the curved desk, and looked at a set of four monitors. She typed a few commands, and located where the secure documents were stored, guessing that this where Drakken and Shego were trying to get to. Kim could see on a monitor that the coded door was still shut, so it looked like they hadn't reached it yet.

A laminated map of the complex was sitting on the desk, so Kim grabbed it and then motioned for Ron to follow her. Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket just then after a good long nap, and yawned loudly. Ron shushed his little buddy who then stuck out his tongue and quietly said 'Sorry'.

Just as they left the desk, Kim felt her Kimmunicator vibrate in her pants pocket. She knew that meant Wade was calling to give her a message on the screen, instead of making noise with a voice message.

The message read, "Silent alarm tripped just before you entered. Drakken and Shego in building at this time." Kim turned the unit so Ron could also read the message. Quickly and quietly the two young teens were able to find the Secured Document Storage room.

They had to get inside and check it out, so Kim took a patch cord from the Kimmunicator and plugged it into a port on the electronic lock. It only took a few seconds for the device to decode the lock and open the door.

Kim and Ron stepped into a large room in which three walls were literally covered with drawers that no doubt contained sensitive documents. At first they didn't see anything out of place, but then Ron tapped Kim on the shoulder and pointed up at and to the right. One of the drawers was slightly open as if it didn't get shut all the way. Rufus, who was also looking around the room, tapped on Ron's shoulder and pointed up towards the ceiling. Both teens looked up and saw a jagged hole that had all the tell-tale marks of Shego's plasma.

Without warning, Wade's voice suddenly came from her pocket, via the Kimmunicator. "Kim! When the Kimmunicator opened the door, it raised the silent alarm to a hostile level, and now the four guards have been given permission to shoot anyone on site that does not belong there! You better get out of there before they find you!"

Immediately Kim and Ron left the room, and at the same time down the hall to their left they saw two of the four guards, who at the same time saw them. They raised their pistols and immediately started to fire, making the two jump back into the room and slam the door shut.

"Now what Kim?" Ron asked, and before he could say anything else, Kim had shot her grappling gun into the hole in the ceiling, grabbed Ron around the waist, and they were hauled through the exit Shego had so conveniently made for them. Just as Ron's feet made it through the hole, bullets came flying through their exit, striking the ceiling of the room they were now in.

Quickly they ran to a door they assumed led out of the room, but not before they heard the guards calling on their radios. "Team One to Team Two. Hostile's are now on the 2nd floor. Repeat, Hostiles now on the 2nd floor!"

"But we're not hostile!" Ron yelled out. "Kim! What is going on?"

"They think we are the ones who originally broke in Ron! We've GOT to get out of here!" Kim quickly pulled her Kimmunicator from her pocket as the two ran down another hallway, not really knowing where they were going. In the haste to get out of the File Room earlier, the laminated map was dropped. "Wade! Can you somehow contact these guards and let them know who we are?"

"Sorry Kim, I can't. When the second alarm was tripped, it locked out all communications related to the building, even the guard's radios, from outside contact."

"We don't even know where we are going Wade! Can you help at all?" Came Kim's frantic voice.

"I can't access the buildings plans, but I can scan your immediate surroundings. Keep going down the hallway you're in, and that will take you to a stairwell at the end. Head to the roof, and I'll have the Sloth waiting for you there in hover-mode."

Just as Kim shut off the Kimmunicator and placed it back in her pocket, shots rang out again making the two duck. They quickly ran to the end of the hall amid a rain of bullets from two semi-automatic pistols, and they were lucky not to get hit. Ron slammed himself through the door, and they found themselves in the stairwell.

"Only a couple flights to the roof Ron… The building only has four levels… Go!" Feet slammed on the steps as they rushed up, and they reached the roof entrance, which also had a coded lock. Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator once more to defeat the lock.

Ron yelled, "No Time!" He took a step back and kicked the door just under the locking mechanism, splintering the frame, and throwing the door wide open.

Just as they shot out of the door, on the opposite end of the roof about a 100 yards away, were two of the guards, who leveled their guns on Kim and Ron. The teens dove and rolled to their right towards the edge of the building hoping that Wade had been able to locate them and had the Sloth ready and waiting. Bullets slammed into the gravel and tar that made up the roof as they rolled, and they stopped and stood just as they reached the edge. The shooting stopped and the two turned around with their hands up. Standing in the doorway they had just come out of were the other two guards, and now four handguns were trained on them.

Kim yelled out, "Stop! We're Team Possible! I'm Kim Possible and this is my Partner Ron…" Four distinct shots were heard and both Kim and Ron cringed waiting for the pain to start.

When they realized that they weren't shot, the two opened their eyes and looked at each other, and then at the guards, who now had their hands up. When Kim realized that the guards weren't giving themselves up to them, she turned around and saw a hovering GJ aircraft in silent mode! There in the open doorway of the hovercraft was none other than Dr. Elizabeth Betty Director. She was holding a rifle that was pointed at the guards, who each had a smoking hole near a foot in the roof.

Dr. Director reached to the side of the door with one hand while still holding the rifle with the other, and brought out a square device, which she spoke into. Her voice seemed to come from the hovercraft itself.

"I am GJ Commander Dr. Elizabeth Director. Stand down! This is Team Possible, and I can personally vouch for them. Drop your weapons."

The guards still had their hands up, but each had a pistol in one of their hands. Each of them now dropped their guns to the ground, and kicked them a few feet away. Rufus quickly ran over and snatched up the weapons and took them over to Kim and Ron, dumping all four in a pile.

Everyone watched the GJ Hover Jet land on the roof about 50 feet away. As soon as it touched down, Betty Director came out like a shot and ran immediately up to Kim and Ron. "Are you two OK? Are you shot, or injured at all?"

As she asked the questions, she looked the two over, and placed her hands on them looking for any kind of wound at all. Kim and Ron couldn't help but smile as the older woman with an eye patch continued to closely check them over. Kim finally said, "We're OK Betty. Just a little winded from running from these guys."

Betty whirled around on the four guards. "I'll have your badges for this! If either of these two had been even remotely hurt, you would have been busted to no more than a **Mall Cop**! Building communications have been restored, so now all four of you get on your radios and call for your replacements. You're all coming with us. I want answers!"

…x x x x…

The meeting was quite interesting… to say the least. Betty saw the email that was sent to Kim's web site by Will Du that had the attached document with official GJ heading. She questioned the guards, and found out that they only had basic information that the building was going to be broken into, and that there was no mention of Team Possible coming to assist.

Kim actually defended the guards by saying that she should have contacted them as soon as she entered the building to say that they had arrived. She also said that if she had done that, her and Ron would have also known that the door hadn't been forced to the secured room, and they wouldn't have had to by-pass the lock the way they did, triggering the secondary alarm.

"It's almost as if it was planned to happen that way." Ron said thoughtfully, not even thinking when he said it out loud.

"You know, your right Ron." Kim said.

"What? I am? Of course I am." He gave his trademark goofy grin.

"This was all planned out very well." Kim said. "Shego dropped in from the ceiling, opened the file drawer, and pulled out the documents they needed. The Dept. of Energy said nothing was missing, but I'll bet anything she was able to copy, or take pictures of the documents and then return them. If we hadn't seen the open drawer, thanks to you Ron, we wouldn't have had any idea that one was broken into. What kind of sensitive information was in that file?"

Betty picked up a piece of paper, and used it as a reference as she spoke. "A V L I S. It's an acronym for Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation. It's a process developed by the US Department of Energy in the 1980's and 90's to enrich Uranium, but it's never been used commercially."

"And that enriched Uranium can be used…" Kim started to say.

"In either a nuclear bomb, or in a power generation facility. So we have a 50 percent chance of figuring out what the reason those documents were taken for." Betty said, finishing Kim's thought.

"And here we thought Drakken was just after plans for a new kind of laser." Kim said. "This could be much, much bigger."

"One moment please." Dr. Director said, and punched some numbers her phone. A ring tone could be heard on the speaker since she had it so everyone could hear.

"GJ's Top Agent William Du speaking, how may I help you?" Kim's eyes rolled at the haughty voice of Du.

"Agent Du?" Betty said, "I am here with Team Possible, and we are trying to determine where the disconnect happened that caused these teens to almost be killed at the Energy Department. I was wondering… Did you confirm your source before sending your communication to Kimberly's email?"

"I was under the assumption that Agent Price had done so, since she was the one who handed me the information." In the background everyone in the room could hear a female voice shout 'What?'

"Do you realize you are on Speaker Phone, Agent Du?" There was a slight pause on Will's end of the line.

He then said, "I'm sorry Ma'am, but it appears that we have had a communications break down here. I apologize for Agent Price's lack of attention to detail. It will not happen again."

Kim spoke up. "I'll bet anything it was Shego who sent the original telegram. The information was vague enough that it could be interpreted a number of ways."

They all heard Will Du clear his voice. "Um… yeah. That sounds logical. We'll get on it right away and see if we can trace the original destination of that telegram.

"You get on that Agent Du, and let us know what you find." Betty Director said, and then punched a button, ending the call. Not only 2 seconds later, a beeping sound alerted Dr. Director that her secretary needed to speak with her. She punched the button.

"Dr. Director? You and Team Possible need to see this. Turn on News Channel 13."

Betty picked up a remote, and turned on a small TV mounted on her wall. There was a reporter standing just outside the Department of Energy building. "This is the site where it was reported that Team Possible was in a shoot out with guards earlier today. There were no reports of injuries, but we have heard sketchy reports that there has been major structural damage to a secured area. GJ is speaking with Team Possible at this time, but we are not sure if they are under arrest or not. Please stay tuned as we will come back if any more information becomes available."

…x x x x…

Inside their closest lair, Drakken was thumbing through the documents that Shego had taken pictures of at the Department of Energy. "Perfect Shego… Perfect! You should go into professional photography. I just simply cannot believe the US didn't look more into this technology. It's a very precise and efficient process. But no matter… I can make this system work _perfectly_ for our benefactor."

"Speaking of our benefactor Dr. D," Shego said, "We need to get going. Our trip over seas is going to take some time, and I know that Kimmie and her buffoon partner will catch on soon enough and be after us. What was the guy's name again?"

"He never really gave us a name. It was just the letter 'T' with a small number 2 next to it. It looks like 'T Squared'."

"Huh"… Shego humphed under her breath. "Well at least he was able to get us transportation. I mean, have you looked over this jet he was able to send us?" Shego waved a hand at the aircraft that looked a lot like the one they had used when she tried to kidnap that Toy Maker. There were three glaring differences though. One, it was all black, meaning it was meant for night flying, two, it was almost twice as big to accommodate for a second seat, and three, it's size meant it could carry numerous weapons.

Drakken and Shego had already loaded all their necessities except for a few last things, and then they took off into the night sky. Shego thought that the radar jamming, and stealth capabilities of the jet were state of the art, which they were, but a certain 10 year old genius just happened to have even better detecting equipment at his disposal. He tracked the craft to the central highlands of Vietnam.

Wade began to sweat. This was not good.

…x x x x…

Drakken and Shego landed on a remote airstrip somewhere in the highlands of Vietnam. Nearby there was a small town in a valley, and Shego noted that the town wasn't on any map that she had studied of the area. After the two landed, a small troop of heavily armed mercenaries transported the two with much haste in a 4-vehicle convoy that consisted of 2 Jeeps, and 2 personnel transport carriers. The vehicles all looked like they had come directly from a TV show that depicted an American Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

They traveled through the jungle until they arrived at a large clearing. In the center of this clearing was a large, modern building. There a uniformed officer stepped out of the building and motioned the vehicles inside, jumping on a running board of one of the personnel carriers.

Drakken couldn't help but look around as they drove in. The building was a fully modern research facility, with all the bells and whistles. Shego noticed several armored doors that had nuclear warning placards on them. She also saw a few with the Hazardous Material placard, in which all sections of the diamond had a 4, the highest level of hazard. The door that _really_ concerned her was the one that prominently displayed the internationally known symbol for Biological Hazard.

After driving through the facility for about 10 minutes, Drakken and Shego disembarked from the vehicle. As soon as they stepped out, the officer who had waved them in handed the two a clipboard each, with a single sheet of paper attached. Both Drakken and Shego had to do a double take, as the man who was previously dressed as a simple officer, now had on a jacket that denoted him as a high-ranking General.

"Please sign this and all will be in order. Welcome to my facility. I believe we will have a successful partnership. You help me with what I want, I will help you with what you want."

…x x x x…

Approximately two days later, another jet arrived in the airspace high over the jungle near the facility. The flight was a scheduled commercial cargo flight, but it was watched carefully as precaution. At 50,000 feet no one on the ground could see the door on the bottom of the plane slide open and two forms jumped out. Their chutes didn't open as they fell though the night. Just above the jungle, there was a soft pop and their chutes popped open. The two figures barely had seconds before they hit a second clearing about half a mile from the facility.

Both Kim and Ron had used blacked-out chutes so they could not be seen, and both teens removed the HALO equipment they had used. As much as Kim liked jumping with parachutes, jumping out of the plane at 50,000 feet and free falling until only about 300 feet above the ground was something that took her breath away. They quickly hid the equipment included the oxygen masks and bottles that kept them alive while they fell through the thin air.

Both teens could easily see their surroundings as each of them had on night-vision goggles, and their clothing was also completely blacked out, as well as their back packs and other equipment. Kim touched her ear, activating the communication equipment that worked on a secure channel.

click"Ron, make sure all this stuff is covered up. We don't need to have some kid come along and find it, then bring mommy and daddy to see the new toys he found." click

click"Done and done KP. No one will find it."click

click"Good. Let's hope no one noticed our arrival. Wade's check of the area didn't show any motion detectors, or anything that might detect us nearby. Now we need to find the lab, and try to grab Drakken and Shego. If we can't get them, we need to destroy the lair. Wade is contacting the government to inform them that we are inserting into their country and why we are here. Dr. Director already spoke to Wade, and she informed him that a message was sent to the Vietnamese government, saying that they should be concerned to have someone like Drakken in their borders. "click

click"I agree with that. Let's get this over with."click

Kim was using a modified version of her Kimmunicator that was also all blacked out, and she continued to scan an area around them as they moved through the jungle toward what they assumed was Drakken's lair.

"Ron…" Kim whispered in Ron's ear. "We need to be extra careful here. This was an area where there was a lot of bombing during the war, and there were also a lot of air dropped mines. So be careful where you step. There might be old booby traps still around from the battle."

Ron snorted. "You are really full of a lot of cheery information aren't you."

Kim lightly smacked Ron on the back of his head, eliciting a smile from him as they continued through the jungle. They thought they would never see the lair until they almost stepped out into the clearing. Kim pulled Ron back and they settled into the heavy foliage at the edge of the jungle. They scanned the facility with their night goggles, not that they really needed to since the entire area was brightly lit. Ron tapped Kim on the shoulder.

"Drakken isn't normally this obvious. Do you think something is up?" Kim shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know… maybe he thinks we won't follow him?"

Both of them ducked as an armed jeep passed nearby. Kim tapped Ron's shoulder this time. "Ron, did those guys look like Drakken's normal goons? They looked like regular army troops to me. My weirdar is going off."

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe Drakken is moving up in the world and finally decided to get some real security. Anyways, we need to get in and stop Drakken." Kim nodded and pointed to a small area in the yard that was uneven. They would be able to use it to approach the building without being seen.

…x x x x…

After reaching the roof, they carefully peeled back a hatch. A number of guards lay unconscious along their way courtesy of Kim's knockout lip balm. Her lipstick laser had made short work of the lock, and Ron dropped through first, followed by Kim and landed inside a storage room. Kim moved to the door and slowly cracked it open. Seeing no one in the hall she motioned for Ron to follow her. They moved silently down the hallway, listening and watching as they moved. As they approached a set of double doors they heard a familiar voice that was oddly muffled.

"Just think Shego. I now have all that I need to complete my new work. Now all I have to do is supply our benefactor with what he wants first."

Shego's voice came through the door next. "I don't know Doc. Some of this stuff looks really nasty. Are you sure you really want to do this?"

Kim worked on the locked door as they listened. Her codebreaking hair comb made short work of the door. She nodded to Ron and he smacked the button to open the door. The doors hissed open and they charged in.

"Drop whatever you are doing Drakken." The blue villain screeched as he spun around. Shego turned to face Kim and Ron, and Kim came to an abrupt halt at what she saw. Drakken and Shego were outfitted with fully-encapsulated suits, complete with an air filtration system on their backs.

Taken by surprise at the entrance of Team Possible, Drakken dropped the two beakers of chemicals that he was holding. When they mixed on the floor, a green mist started to spread throughout the room. With almost an uncanny instinct, both Kim and Ron slapped their own miniature breathing apparatus over their mouth and nose. Kim's mind gibbered when she saw the mist start to corrode any metal it came into contact with. Sparks started to fly as the gas ate through electrical conduits in the room, and fires started to burst out from various junction boxes.

Shego and Drakken disappeared into the mist as emergency lights started to flash. The mist ate through the walls of two large cylindrical tanks of nearby chemicals leaning against the wall and they ignited into roaring flame. Kim and Ron retreated out of the room as the wall of rolling flames followed them out into the hall. Numerous klaxons throughout the building started to sound as the two teens ran for their lives.

As they ran down a long corridor, which was illuminated only by flashing red strobes, Ron looked over to Kim. "That's got to be a record for us for destroying a lair."

Both of them followed other members of the staff in abandoning the facility. As soon as the two were outside, they immediately took cover in the jungle. Kim tried to call Wade for pickup but something was wrong with the Kimmunicator. She motioned for Ron to keep going, hoping he knew to head back to the drop point. The plan had been for Wade to send their pick up to the same point, and all they had to do was wait.

The two made their way back to the where they landed, and Ron stepped into the clearing. When he suddenly stopped Kim ran into the back of him. "Ron, go on. What's wrong?" There wasn't an answer from her partner as Ron wasn't moving.

"Ron?" Kim stepped back and looked at her boyfriend, who by now was slowly raising his hands over his head. She looked to her right and saw 4 heavily armed soldiers pointing rifles at both of them. She slowly copied her partner's actions.

Just after Kim had raised her hands, a fifth man stepped out from behind the four who had weapons trained on the two teens. He looked to be someone of importance, as he had more than a few medals on the left half of his chest. He barked at one of the four, and the man shouldered his weapon. He walked over to Kim and Ron, and slowly took the hands of each, and handcuffed them behind their backs.

"What are you doing?" Kim said. "We're Team Possible. Doctor Drakken is an international villain and has built a lair in your county. Our partner contacted your government about why we are here, what we were doing."

A hand shot out from the man that had handcuffed them and struck her on the cheek with a backhanded slap that made her shut up. She glared at the man with the medals, who now spoke in English, but with a heavy accent. It wasn't so heavy though that he couldn't be understood. In fact, Kim and Ron understood him all too well.

"Kimberly Possible, Ronald Stoppable? The two of you are under arrest. You are in a restricted area of this country without permission." He then began to tick items off on one hand by pointing at his fingers. "You entered this country illegally, you attacked a national research facility, you assaulted a number of the staff of the facility, and you assaulted a number of guards responsible for the security of the lab. You are responsible for the deaths of 10 of the lab's staff _including _Dr. Drakken and his assistant, who asked for and had received asylum from this country. In addition to the murder of the staff, you will be charged for the murder of 100 innocent people in the nearby village, who died from the gas you released in your assault on our lab."

"What?" Both teens said loudly with dropped jaws, and immediately shut up when the four gentlemen with rifles raised their weapons slightly. The action was not lost on Kim and Ron, and they wisely said nothing else. Both of them knew that they had just been setup, big time!

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am General Trong Tri, and it is under my authority that you are to be taken into custody and tried for this atrocious killing of 110 innocent people and **attack** upon this nation. We will notify your government in the morning. You will be tried for war crimes against this nation, and you will most likely be _executed_ for said crimes. Now, it's a pity that you resisted arrest." Ron could only watch as the butt of a rifle came at him from the side. He heard a thud and a gasp from Kim behind him. The hits weren't hard enough to knock them out, but definitely enough to make them drop to their knees.

After the troopers subdued Kim and Ron for their 'supposed' resisting arrest, they were then gagged, and forced to march through the jungle. Any misstep or stumble was rewarded by a blow with a rifle butt. When they finally broke into a clearing, burlap bags were placed over their heads before they were unceremoniously tossed into the back of a truck. They rode for a good two hours, and Kim and Ron had no idea where they were, or what was going to happen to them. Somehow along the way, they had both been able to move around and find each other's hands, and held onto each other for almost the entire ride.

After the vehicle finally lurched to a stop, they were roughly pulled from the back, and the bags removed from their heads. A morning sun could be seen rising over the buildings as Kim and Ron were led into a nearby building, which Kim noticed had a set of microwave dishes and a large tower on it's roof, indicating it was some kind of communications building.

They were led into a room that had a single television camera, where the gags were removed and they were forced to sit on two wooden chairs in front of the camera. The General stood behind them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. He then nodded to a person who had been standing behind the camera, and a red light came on top of it, indicating it was on.

The General then spoke into the camera.

…x x x x…

Both Anne and James Possible were wondering why each of them had been taken from their jobs and then transported by a large black SUV to a GJ complex in Middleton. The agents that picked each of them up told both of them the same thing, that they were to come with them immediately, and to please not ask any questions, that all would be answered by the Director of GJ.

James and Anne were brought into what looked like a Board Meeting Room, as it had a large oak table about 5 feet wide, by about 15 feet long, and it had chairs all around. On one end of the room was a large flat-screen TV mounted up on the wall. Dr. Elizabeth Director sat in the chair directly opposite of the TV.

"Please, Dr.'s, have a seat." She said, motioning to two chairs next to her. A knock sounded on the door, and she pressed a button, releasing the lock. In walked two more GJ agents, each of them escorting a different person. It was Ron's Parents, Eugene and Jean Stoppable.

"What is going on here?" Anne and James said as soon as they saw their daughter's boyfriend's parents walk in. Anne continued to speak by herself. "We have rights you know. We demand to be told what is going…"

"Please, Mrs. Possible…" Dr. Director said. "I don't mean to be rude, but please be quiet. We are on conference with a General Trong Tri from over-seas." She motioned to the large TV, and pressed a button on the table in front of her, bringing up a picture that caused all four parents to take a breath.

"Ah…" The General said. "I see the parents of these… children… are finally present." Everyone in the room could see Kim almost growl at the word 'children'. "I wanted to tell you all what has transpired before I go public with this and inform your President of what these two have done in my country."

"What have you done with our children?" Anne said, speaking up first.

"It is not what we have done to them, but what they have done to us. If you are at all squeamish, you may wish to look away from what I am about to show you."

The screen changed to still picture's of what appeared to be a small Vietnamese town. Outside in the streets were bodies littered everywhere, some hanging out the windows of cars, and others were half way inside doors leading into various businesses. The Generals voice could be heard as various pictures were displayed on the screen, showing basically the same thing, what looked to be dead bodies everywhere.

"Your… **children**… have done this! They entered a restricted area of our country and attacked a national research laboratory. During the attack they assaulted at least twenty of the security and lab staff of the facility. Four of their victims are in critical condition. They destroyed the lab and released a gas of unknown origin that caused the deaths of 10 of the lab staff and an entire village of one hundred people.

"The director of the facility was Dr. Drakken along with his assistant Shego, both of whom were in this country **legally** after asking for and receiving asylum. Your C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N used their combat abilities in an obvious act of revenge. Normally acts of this type by national troops would be an act of war. However since they are civilian and not under the auspices of the United States Government, we will not consider this an act of war by the United States. However, we will be charging them with sabotage, espionage, and murder. We will also be adding war crimes to the list!

"My Government has authorized me to place these two under arrest for the Genocidal Killing of a large portion of our citizens. Any attempt at rescuing them at all will be considered an act of war on our country, and we WILL retaliate in kind! Kim Possible and Ronald Stoppable will be tried on our soil, and if found guilty, which I am sure they will, they will be executed by hanging until they are dead, dead, DEAD!"

Through the entire time that the pictures were shown and the General was speaking, the jaws of everyone in the room continued to drop lower and lower. After the pictures were done being displayed, and the General had finally finished speaking, the picture of he and Kim and Ron were now on the screen. All those watching in the room now saw tears falling down the cheeks of Kim and Ron, and could hear them trying to be strong without outwardly crying. That was all it took. One person in the GJ Board Room had the fortitude to speak up, and it was Kim's mom.

Her language was definitely not befitting a professional doctor, and a few choice names were hurled at the General. The eyes of both teens went wide as they heard the words coming from her mouth, and then the communication was disconnected from the Generals end.

"Mrs. Possible!" Dr. Director said over Anne's voice as she was still shouting things that would make a Longshoreman blush. "If you do not shut up, I will be forced to remove you from this room, and NOT… I repeat… NOT be allowed in any of our briefings. Do you understand?"

Dr. Annette Possible's mouth shut with an audible click, and she sat down hard next to her husband, who was still looking at her with shock on his face. He had never in his life heard his wife speak such vulgar things. Apparently seeing her daughter sitting there with a blackening eye and a foreign General telling her that her only daughter was to be executed was too much for her, and she snapped.

Dr. Director took a deep breath and let it out. "Now, after we had our lesson as to how NOT to speak to a foreign General, let's get down to business. How are we going to save your children?""

Anne Possible blushed a bit, and now the tears were starting to fall. James took her in his arms and the two quietly cried at the supposed fate of their child and her lifetime friend. They hadn't noticed yet that Eugene and Jean Stoppable were **not** crying, and they were actually already talking strategy with Dr. Director.

To be continued…

* * *

Please leave a review and tell us how we are doing. Once again, Thanks so much for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Trial of the Hearts**

**Chapter 10**

**By Team Whitecap

* * *

  
**

General Tri waited until his staff signaled that the communication connection had been cut. Drawing his hand back he slapped Kim and Ron on the backs of their heads. He nodded to a group of guards.

"Take them to holding. Process them and take them to interrogation."

He stepped in front of the two teens and looked them in the face.

"I hope that both of you have read your history. In particular, what we did to your countrymen who we captured after they bombed our country during the last war. I ask you to understand your position. They were prisoners of war. They did have some rights, not that we gave them those rights but they had them. You two are NOT prisoners of war. The Geneva Convention speaks clearly on the subject of "agents". They have no protection and can be treated as we care. However, we will give you the same rights that we would give any other of the residents of this country that attack government installations. You will be treated as terrorists and assassins."

He paused for a moment letting his words take effect.

"You will now be taken to be processed into our prison facility. After that you will be taken to an interrogation room. We will be asking you some direct questions. We expect some direct answers. If you do not give us the answers we think are the truth, then I am afraid we will have to resort to measures that have been used before. So I ask you again to remember your history. I am sure you both have read books or have studied that period of time. Now think if you can face that. I will be expecting answers from you when we talk next."

Kim snapped her head up.

"I want to speak to someone at the American Embassy. You can charge us as you want, but you can't treat us differently."

Tri smiled as he motioned to the guards.

"Oh, we will not be treating you differently."

Kim felt herself yanked from her chair and thrown to the floor. Stars danced across her vision as her head slammed into the concrete floor. A boot slashed out and caught her ribs. She tried to roll away only to catch a rifle butt in the middle of her back. Her body went rigid as the spasms of pain flashed through her body. She was dimly aware of hands gripping her by her arms and dragging her from the room. Distantly she heard thuds and groans as Ron received the same type treatment she had just received.

* * *

Ron numbly rolled on the floor where his guards dropped him. The room stank of mold and mildew. He remembered being kicked from his chair. His last memory of the room was seeing a guard bury the butt of his rifle in the middle of Kim's back. The toe of another guards boot hit his head and everything went dark. As he rolled on the floor one of the guards threw a bucket of water on him. He gasped as the cold water covered him. Hands rolled him over on his stomach and a boot came down on his head pinning it to the floor. Other hands grabbed his wrists and took off the handcuffs. The boot came off of his head as he was jerked to his feet. The same hands slammed him against the wall. A guttural voice spoke to him.

"Strip to your underwear and shower. We will give you the clothes you are to wear. After that you will be taken for questioning. They will not treat you as nicely as we have."

Ron looked at them bleary.

"Oh, so I have been getting the four star treatment."

The air rushed from his lungs as a club caught him in the stomach. The blow folded him in two and dropped him back to the floor. He rolled on the floor gasping in pain for a few moments until he was struck by another bucket of water. Slowly and painfully he got to his feet and stepped over to the rustic shower in the corner of the room. He turned the one knob and stood under the stream of water. One of the guards gave him what looked like a bar of soap. He lathered up and rinsed off. It felt good to get the jungle smell off of him.

After he finished another guard threw him a towel and he dried off. A pile of dark clothes was handed to him as well as a pair of rough sandals. The cloths were white and gray striped and consisted of a baggy shirt and a pair of three-quarter length pants that were tied off to hold them up. As soon as he was dressed the guards grabbed him and tied his elbows behind him while tying his hands to his side. Then the guards pulled him from the room and led him up the hall and into another room. This room was furnished with two chairs facing a wooden table with one chair behind it. Kim was already sitting in one of the two chairs and was bound just as he was. Her rumpled appearance told him that she most likely received the same treatment as he.

His guard forced him to sit in the chair next to Kim. They sat there for sometime, struggling to breathe as the way their arms were tied made it difficult to do so. He didn't know how long they waited, but the guards snapped to attention as the General entered the room. He was carrying a stack of papers as he sat down at the table. Setting the papers down in two stacks, he faced the two teens.

"Now, let's get on with the formalities. Kimberly Ann Possible of the United States, Ronald Eugene Stoppable of the United States. You are hereby formally charged with two counts of entering a restricted area of the county, two counts of entering this country without a visa, 2 counts of attacking a government installation, 24 counts of assault on a government official, 18 counts of murder of a government official, and 448 counts of murder."

He paused for a moment then nodded to the guards. They stepped forward and untied both Kim and Ron. Kim rubbed her arms trying to get the circulation back in them. The General continued.

"You can make this easy for all concerned. I have with me two full confessions made out in your names. You will sign them now."

Ron stared at the General.

"Then you will just let us go free."

General Ti laughed.

"Ah, Mr. Stoppable with the American style jokes. No, Mr. Stoppable, I don't think even the two of you are naive enough to believe that. No, even though your crimes warrant execution, we will place you in prison for the rest of your lives. But, only after you make a full public confession as we direct. It will be quite humiliating. Of course, if someone is willing to make a deal for your lives and willing to trade for you. Then, we _may_ let you go home. Forcing me to use other methods including a _full_ trial would cause me to use other means as hanging or a firing squad. This will also be made quite public. Can you imagine how it would be for your families. To watch their children being led to a wall and shot to pieces or being dropped at the end of a rope and watch their necks snap. Now what is your decision?"

Kim and Ron shook their heads. Tri stood up.

"I believe I will give you a couple of days to consider your position. During that time we shall be talking on a number of occasions. I will be asking you some interesting questions, I will want some very interesting answers. During that time you may ask for the same confession papers. The embassy will notified that we are holding you. In a few days we will be transferring you to a military prison. A that time someone from the embassy staff will be allowed to visit you. At that time all deals will be off."

Tri stood up and nodded to the guards. Kim winced as her guards yanked her to her feet and lead her to the door. As they reached the door her guards turned left while Ron's turned right. She turned to yell. He did the same.

"Ron!"  
"Kim!"

Both took blows from from clubs that left them dazed as the guards drug them towards their cells.

* * *

Kim wrapped her arms around herself trying to get the feeling back in them as the guards prodded her with their clubs. The guards that hauled her from the interrogation room to her cell were female. The same ones that had taken over her once she had been tossed into the shower room. At least she didn't have to strip in front of any of the male guards. Not that her guards treated her any better. After they untied her arms she was tossed roughly to the wet floor of the shower room. A bar of soap was tossed to her as well as a rag. Stripping down to her underwear she stepped under the warm stream of water. The soap was something like the old style lye soap. It would not be good for her hair but she had to wash down completely. Hearing the guards laugh she turned to see what was going on. One guard pointed at her then thrust out her own ample bosom The rest of the guards had laughed.

Now they tossed her onto wooden pallet that would apparently be her bed. They pulled her to the bottom of her pallet and placed her feet into a set of wooden stocks. Locking the stocks, the guards turned and left the room. As the door slammed shut all light was extinguished. She lay there on her back in the dark. There was not one part of her body that did not hurt. She tried to keep the tears away but they came anyway. To say that they were in trouble was an understatement. Kim realized that the past few months had to have been nothing but a set up. Considering the news coverage that they had been getting recently she was sure it would not be pretty when the news hit the airwaves in the morning. She could only hope that GJ would find someway to help them.

* * *

Dr. Director stormed into her office with three of her aides right behind her.

"Okay, I want some answers. First, what happened to our intelligence? Why was Team Possible given information that sent them into an impossible situation? Who had access to that information and where did it come from. I don't believe in fluke accidents. Things don't get this bad without a reason. I want a full investigation into what happened, if I find out that it came from our intelligence, then there will be hell to pay. Get Du in here NOW!"

Will Du grumbled as he strode down the hall with a determined gate towards Dr. Director's office. He had been in the middle of a game of Solitaire on his computer when the call had come for him to be in Elizabeth Director's office… 'post haste'. He was just about to win his seventh game, a personal best.

Will opened the door to his boss' office, and walked in. He pulled up short when he saw both Dr. Director and Agent Price in the room. Quickly he replaced his frown with an indifferent look and addressed the two women.

"Dr. Director… Agent Price. What's the situation?"

"The situation…" Dr. Director said, "Is that there seems to have been a breakdown in communication somewhere. Now I pride myself on running a tight ship Mr. Du." Will noticed the lack of her using either his first name, or preceding his last with 'Agent'.

Dr. Director had fixed Will with a look that immediately made him nervous, and she continued. "There seems to be a discrepancy between received Intel. and that which was forwarded on to Team Possible."

"If I may explain Dr. Director…"

"I don't wish to hear excuses… _Agent_." Will didn't like her inflection of the word 'agent'. "What I want to know is why Team Possible… Kim and Ron… are in this situation!"

Dr. Director hit a few keys on the keyboard in front of her, and a small screen used for presentation purposes dropped from the ceiling opposite of her desk. Will turned around and a gasp escaped his lips. There on the screen was a still picture of Kim and Ron from the video conference earlier with Trong Tri. Kim's hair was a complete mess, and she had one black eye that looked like it was about to start bleeding. There was a bruise on her jaw, and what looked like a split lip that had stopped bleeding sometime earlier. Ron also had a black eye, and his hair was a mess, but he wasn't looking at the camera. His eyes were looking at Kim with obvious concern for her well-being. Both teens clothes were dirty, and ripped in a few places showing the rough treatment they had received so far.

"So it seems the amateur and her sidekick are finally in over their head." Will dead panned, but apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

Dr. Director could barely hold in her rage. "Their condition is a direct result of the lack of intelligence sent to Wade Load! And we have it on record… _Agent_ Du… That he received that Intel. from **you**."

"What… what are you saying Dr. Director?" Will's voice seemed to rise a bit. "That I falsified information? I would never…"

"That is _exactly _what I am saying." Dr. Director picked up a piece of paper from her desk. "Do you know what I have here, _Agent_ Du?" Again with the inflection on the word 'agent', he thought.

"No Ma'am." Will was standing ramrod straight as he addressed his Commander.

"This is the original telegram sent to us from an unknown source." Will quickly glanced over at Agent Price, and the glance was not lost on either Dr. Director, or Agent Price. "Agent Price here had the foresight to hang onto this document. Now… Do you know what _this_ is?" Dr. Director picked up another piece of paper and Will shook his head to indicate he did not know. "This is a copy of what Wade Load received."

By now Will knew that he was in serious trouble. The jig was up, as they say, and he had just become the prime suspect in what could be considered a serious infraction. All he could do was listen to what Dr. Director was saying.

"Now Will… listen to me very carefully. I know you are aware of the punishment for falsifying documents." Will swallowed hard. "If you can give me a reason… a good reason, why these two documents don't match, I will not take further action." The tension in the room could be cut with a knife… a dull knife.

Will's mind raced as he tried to think of a reason… anything… that Dr. Director and Agent Price would believe, but he couldn't think of any. They had him dead to rights. Eventually all he had to say was two words, "I don't."

"Fine." Dr. Director said a not of finality that Will didn't like at all. "Agent Price? Please relieve Mr. Du of his sidearm, confiscate his personal computer, and all data he has pertaining to this case."

Agent Price held out her hand, and Will quickly put his hand on his weapon making both Agent Price and Dr. Director place a hand on their own weapons. He unsnapped the holding strap with a practiced flip of his thumb, pulled out the gun, and handed it to Agent Price, handle first.

Will watched Agent Price stride out of the office with his weapon, and then he turned back to his Commander. "Dr. Director? You wouldn't be doing all of this for something as simple as document falsification. What else has occurred?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis Mr. Du, and you don't need to know." Betty Director paused and took a breath. This was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. "William I. Du… you are under arrest for the willful falsification of Intelligence that has resulted in the capture of American citizens." Betty then pressed a button on her phone and spoke into the speaker. "Security, please come to my office and detain William Du."

Will did not resist as two burly Security Officers hand-cuffed his wrists behind his back and led him to a secure detention cell. It wasn't until he was sitting on a cold hard bench behind bars that the thought crossed his mind that maybe his… 'Document change' wasn't such a good idea.

* * *

Light blinded Kim's eyes at the same time as the door slammed open to her cell. Three guards came into the cell and yanked her to a sitting position. Pining her arms behind her, they tied them off as before. Then they slapped a hood over her head as they unlocked her ankles from the stocks. Grabbing her arms, they pulled her from the so called bed and dragged her from the room. She kept trying to walk but her legs were knotted up so much from being locked in the stocks. Kim felt like she hadn't slept at all she was so tired. The guards made a number of turns then entered another room. This one was almost cold. The guards pushed her to her knees and yanked off the hood.

Kim looked around. She was in a white tiled room. On the wall were hooks every few feet. Coils of roped hung from a few. Short lengths of rubber hose lay on the floor under some more. One of the guards came up behind her and kicked her legs apart. Kim tried to move away but the guard grabbed the rope holding her elbows together and passed another rope through them. Tying it off, the guard stepped back. Kim wondered what was going on when the rope snapped tight and she was yanked into the air. She screamed as it felt like her arms were going to come out of their sockets. Gasping for air she hung in the air for she didn't know how long. She couldn't get air into her lungs as the muscles in her chest were stretched so tight. Blackness started to cloud her vision when the floor smacked her in the face.

She lay there for a moment as oxygen slowly returned to her system. Her arms were still numb but nothing like the pain as before. Lying there on the cold floor she began to shiver as a pair of boots stepped into her field of vision. The toe of one boot made it's way under her cheek and forced her to look up. The General was looking down at her.

"Well, well, well. How are we?"

Kim grunted and jerked away from his boot.

"Oh just dandy. I am enjoying the first class accommodations and service."

The General nodded and the ropes snapped taut again. Kim screamed as she was lifted into the air again. She hung there for a few moments then she was dropped to the floor again. Her arms and her back were going numb as she lay on the floor. Two of the guard walked over to the wall and picked up some rubber hoses. Her mind gibbered as they turned and started to walk back to her. Someone grabbed her feet and started to drag her to another part of the room. Hands picked her up and bent her forward over a table. They spread her legs and tied them off to the table legs. Then they passed a loop of rope through a hole in the table, around the back of her neck. Tightening the rope, they pulled her down and forward onto the table. Leather straps were placed over back to hold her down. Her upper body was held tightly to the surface. General Tri stepped back into her vision.

"I'll leave you for a little while to consider your position. Have no fear. You will not the raped, rape is so _common. _I think are are better ways. I shall be back and we will continue our discussion."

Kim was about to say something when there was a crack. Kim leaned her head back to scream as the back of her left thigh felt like it was on fire. Another crack and her right thigh joined the first. Glancing back as best she could, she saw two guards standing on either side her. One grinned as he swung his segment of rubber hose and brought it slashing down her bottom. Pain rifled up her back as she twisted on the table in pain. The guards continued striking her bottom and her thighs.

* * *

Ron lay his bed with his feet in the stocks. His room had several very bright lights that were turned on and off at intervals. He didn't know how long he lay there as he had no watch and the room was so quiet. It was then he heard the jingling of keys. A key was inserted in the door and it swung open. Three guards came into the room, pulling a hood over his head. Tying his arms behind his back as before, the guards picked him up and dragged him through a maze of turns. They made a sharp turn through a door, then they threw him on the floor. He felt a rope pass through those tying his elbows back. With a grunt the rope tightened and he was lifted off the floor. Pain filled his shoulders and his chest, he struggled for breath as he hung in the air. Someone came into the room and he was dropped to the floor. Two boots walked into his field of vision. He looked up he see General Tri looking down him.

"Well now, the other half of the team. I was just speaking with Miss Possible."

A scream filled the air. Ron had no doubt who it was. He vaulted to his feet and his shoulder caught the General in the mid section. General Tri was lifted off the floor and sent flying against the wall. The guards grabbed Ron and landed on top of him. Fists, clubs and boots landed blow after blow. A sharp yell from the General they stopped. Ron was lifted off the floor and his head pulled back by the hair. His lip was split and bleeding. The General was standing in front of him. His uniform was soiled and in disarray, his hat lay crushed on the floor, and his hair mussed. Tri adjusted his uniform and walked over to pick up his hat. Another guard came into the room and whispered something into the General's ear. Tri scowled for a moment, then he turned and started to pace the floor for a few moments. Every so often he would look over at Ron. He stopped and a grin crossed his face. Turning to one of the guards he gave orders rapidly. The guard saluted and left. Tri turned and walked back to Ron.

"Well, it appears your government has demanded to see the two of you immediately. So it appears our little games will be cut short as we will have to transfer you to another facility. But we do have one more game to play. Since you are such a famous team then we shall put you together for the next part."

Tri gave another series of orders to the guards around Ron. One left the room while the other lifted him up and the hood came down back over his head.

* * *

Sitting strapped to the chair was the most comfortable position that she had been in for several days. The room was comfortable and no one was yelling at her, hitting or kicking her, or generally making her life miserable. She had to hand to to them. They had learned well how to really hurt someone without physically hurting them badly. Shego had taught her several ways to hurt but the General and his guards were in a league of their own. Kim thought of the men who had under gone this type of treatment for years. At least their time here was coming to an end. One of the General's aides had told her that they would be transferring them to another facility. They would be finally be able to meet with someone from the United States and possibly someone from Global Justice.

One of the doors opened and she turned her head to see. Two guards were dragging a hooded figure into the room. Her heart leapt. His didn't have to see under the hood to know who it was.

"Ron!"

The guard slung Ron into the chair facing Kim and strapped him into it. Then they yanked the hood off of his head. Kim almost gasped. He was a wreak. The guards had beaten her but they had really done a number on Ron. He had a black eye and a split lip. His cheek was swollen and dried blood came out of the corner of his mouth. The guards dropped the hood to the floor and left the room. Kim trembled as she softly called out to him.

"Ron? Can you hear me? Ron?"

He lifted his head and opened his eyes. A small smile crossed his face.

"Hey KP. Looking good!"

He sat there looking at her. Her hair was filthy and her face was bruised but she looked great to him. There was a hint of a smile on her face.

"Ron what did they do to you?"

Ron shook his head.

"Tri was in the room gloating over me when I heard you scream. He sorta laughed at that. One thing they forgot. I played football and I am used to getting up just using my legs. Remember what I did to Jackie Daniels? Well, I did the same thing to the General. I messed up his hair and that fancy uniform, but they did beat the living daylights out of me after that. That's when some dude came in and told the General something. That's when he ordered us put together. What ever he is planning I am not looking forward to it."

Tri entered the room with a number of guards. One of the guards carried an olive drab case over on shoulder. Another carried two buckets. The guards set their items on a table off to the side and then took positions behind Kim and Ron. Two behind each of them. Tri stood between the two of them.

"I must say that you two surprised me. I really thought that you would break before this. Now, it looks like things will be changing. Apparently someone here or in my government found out the little bit of fun we have been having here and they disapproved. Word was passed among several important people and it has been ordered that you are to be transferred to a special facility for your trial. The public excuse is that you would be in danger in a normal prison. Now when we first spoke I told you how displeased I would be if we had to go to that length."

Tri turned and motioned to the guards. One walked over to the table and dumped the contents out on the table. It was mostly more rope, strips of cloth, leather straps and some cloth pads. He picked up a number of the items and walked over to Kim. Before she could move a leather strap came down over her forehead and pulled her head back against the chair.

Kim yelped and as she did one of the guards gagged her with a strip of cloth. Another guard picked up the other bucket and set it down in front of her. It was full of water. Tri stepped over and opened the olive drab pack. He pulled out a phone and some wires.

"This is quite amusing. Your countrymen left this device when we chased them out. For a phone, it is quite archaic but also very functional. But I have found another quite unique use for it. You see it is a battery operated phone. To talk to someone you just turn this little crank.

Tri turned the box around so that Kim and Ron could see. Tri pulled out a small handle and rapidly turned it.

"This crank sends an electrical signal down the wire where it would ring a bell. Then you could talk. But since the phone is broken now, I have found another use for it."

Tri gave orders to one of the guards. He put on a pair of gloves, then held up the wire coming out of the phone. The last three or four feet of the wire had been pulled apart to single strands. The very ends were bare wire. The guard held the wire ends close together. Tri spun the handle again. Sparks arced across the wires. Ron began to look at the wires then back at Kim.

"No...don't do it."

The guard walked over to Kim and knelt in front of her. Pulled two pieces of cloth out of his pocket he dipped them into the water. Pulling Kim's sandals off the wrapped a piece of cloth around each of her big toes and then repeated the same with each wire. She closed her eyes and whimpered just a bit. Ron struggled against the straps holding him. Tri snapped an order and one of the guards grabbed Ron's head from behind and held it so he was facing Kim. Tears fell from his eyes.

"Please...Don't.... I'll sign anything."

Kim started to shake her head as best she could while grunting. Tri just shook his head.

"I am afraid that offer is no longer valid. You did something to me young man. You struck me. No prisoner has ever struck me. Do you know you actually cracked one of my ribs. You degraded me in front of my men. Now I know there is nothing that I can do to you that would punish you enough. You would take it. But.... how are you going to feel when I punish Miss Possible here for your indiscretion. Oh...I promise you she will not be permanently harmed. Don't try and close your eyes either, for if you do I will double her time. Now shall we begin."

Tri grabbed the handle and gave it a slight slow spin. Kim flinched and balled her hands. Ron locked eyes with her. Then Tri gave the handle four rapid turns. Kim's body convulsed and her eyes fluttered. Then she sank back into her chair when the handle stopped. Tri spun the handle four more times. Ron watched as Kim's body went rigid again. Tears poured from his eyes. Tri spun the handle four more times and then stopped. Kim's eyes were closed. The soldier released the strap holding her head and it lolled forward. The guard removed the gag. Ron forced the word out of his mouth.

"Kim?"

Tri stepped over and placed his hand on her neck.

"She is quite alive. Now, you will be taken to a cell while we make preparations to leave. Before we do, you will be given a chance to shower and a change of clothes. A doctor will treat you for any injuries that you received in your "capture" and then we will be on our way to the other facility."

Tri turned and walked out of the room. The guard unstrapped Ron first then Kim. One of the guards picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. The other guards motioned for Ron to stand with his hands on his head and walk in front of them. Walking down the hall, one of the guard directed Ron into a cell, this one had two beds, a sink and a toilet. Ron stood against the far wall as the other guard dumped Kim on the floor and backed out. The door slammed shut and locked. Ron dove for Kim and picked her head up.

"Kim, KP??...."

Her eyes opened and looked at him, a small smile crossed her face. Slowly she raised her hand to caress his cheek. Tears fell from Ron's face onto hers.

"Oh, Kim I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

Kim blinked and pressed a finger against his lips. She opened her mouth to speak, her voice was weak.

"It's okay, I'll...I'll be okay. I love you. Just hold me."

Ron's pulled her to him and cried as he rocked her back and forth.

* * *

It's Team WhiteCap. This chapter was another team effort. We hope that you enjoyed it. Please leave a review.


	11. Chapter 11 The Sitch Continues

**Trials of The Heart**

**Chapter 11**

**The Sitch Continues.**

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Ron held onto Kim as she lay in his arms. Her eyes were closed but he knew she was conscious. She would moan any time he moved her. He tried to check her out the best he could, but without any of their scanners it was impossible. She was breathing normally and her heart rate was good. A small smile would come to her face each time she looked up at him. The sunlight coming through the bars let him know that about 6 hours had passed when a key jiggled in the lock. He placed Kim on the floor and stood between her and the door. If they wanted Kim, they would have to kill him to get to her. Tri walked in with a few guards. They had what appeared to be orange suits and sneakers in their hands. The guards put the clothing down on the floor next to the pair and left. Tri motioned with his hand and four people walked in wearing medical scrubs.

"The medical staff will treat you before you will be given the opportunity to change. After you change, you will be transferred to another facility. At that facility you will be given the chance to meet with some embassy staff. Your preliminary trial before a military court will start the next day."

Kim moved slightly. "Military court?"

Tri nodded as he looked down at her.

"Yes, Miss Possible. You attacked a military installation on a military base. You will be tried by a Military Court. Now the medical staff will treat you. After they are through you may change."

Tri turned and left the room with the guards. The medical staff brought in some dividers and stools. One motioned for Kim to stand and follow them. She struggled to stand as Ron helped her up. Taking her arm, he guided her first steps in the direction of the two who were waiting for her. She stopped and patted his hand.

"I'm okay Ron. Let's get this over with."

Ron let go of her arm and watched as she walked behind the divider. Turning he faced the doctor and nurse looking at him. He walked over and sat down on the stool they had brought into the room. The nurse pulled his shirt up over his head and clucked as she examined his back. A small cry came from Kim's direction. He started to get up when the doctor put his hand on his shoulder.

"Do not be afraid for you companion. Dr. Wu is a fine doctor and will take care of her. Let us treat you so that you may make your way to the new facility."

Ron settled back down on his stool wincing as the doctor probed his ribs. "Where are they taking us? Or can you say?"

The doctor started to rub some ointment on his back as the nurse examined his head through his hair. The doctor kept talking.

"You are being taken to a military base outside of the Capital city. There is a small military prison there for holding special prisoners."

Ron sighed. "So we will be getting special treatment and I was just getting used to the accommodations here."

The nurse stifled a laugh as she started to wrap a bandage around his ribs. The doctor looked at Ron with a smile on his face.

"You have an interesting sense of humor young one. Let us hope that it can carry you through the coming days."

The doctor stood back and handed Ron his new clothes. "You may get dressed now. I will say that these garments will be more comfortable than what you had. The nurse and I will wait on the other side of the divider."

Ron stood unsteadily and proceeded to get dressed. The sneakers and socks felt wonderful to his feet. Tightening his belt, he stepped around the side of the divider to see Kim standing there waiting for him. She slowly walked over to where he was.

"The doctor said I am bruised up pretty good but that's about it. Two of them will be traveling with us to the new prison."

The door swung open as Tri and a number of guards walked into the room. The guards were carrying handcuffs and chains. Kim and Ron stood as the guard proceeded to lock them into the sets. One chain went around their waists and locked, and then their wrists were placed in the handcuffs hanging from the chains. This forced them to hold their hands close to their stomachs. Another pair of manacles were placed on their ankles, and a chain passed up and connected to the waist chain. The chain between their ankles was short forcing them to take short steps.

Tri motioned for them to walk out the door. Ron let Kim go first and followed behind her. Two guards were waiting for them outside the door. They were armed with assault rifles and backed slowly up the hallway as Kim and Ron made their way up the hall. The two guards backed out a door as another held it open. When Kim and Ron stepped out the door into the sun, they blinked in the sun's brightness as this was the first time they had been outside in a number of days. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, Kim noticed the guards waiting for them at the back of an army style truck. The truck was backed up to the loading dock where they were standing, and Kim took a moment to look around. They were inside a walled compound with guard towers at intervals along the walls. Barbed wire topped the brick walls of the enclosure.

One of the guards nudged her forward with the barrel of his rifle. Kim walked slowly forward and into the back of the truck. Looking around she took a seat on the left side on a bench that ran the length of the bed of the truck. There was a canvas roof over the back area of the truck, and the sides had slats of wood up to the height of her back. Ron took a seat next to her. Four guards took seats in positions on the bench directly opposite of them. Tri handed the keys of the shackles to one of the guards as he took his seat, and turned to the two teens.

"I will be leaving you to the care of the guards. They will escort you to the base where you will be held until we decide what to do with you and where you will have your first meeting with the consulate staff."

Tri turned and walked off to a waiting car with the engine running. It pulled off the moment he had closed the door. A truck full of guards followed behind his car. Their driver waited for a few moments then pulled off. Kim watched as they pulled out into the countryside. The jungle seemed to grow right up to the edge of the road. Ron noticed the guard with the keys was one of the guards that had captured them that night that seemed like a year ago. All the other guards seemed to be almost new recruits. Kim seemed to have noticed it too and just shrugged her shoulders.

After they had traveled for sometime the older guard got up to speak with the driver. Ron heard a jingle and noticed the shackle keys had fallen out of the guard's pocket and onto the floor of the truck. No one seemed to notice, so he slid his foot out and covered the keys. Sliding his foot back, he pulled the keys back under the bench he was sitting on. Kim had seen what was going on and had watched the other guards. They didn't seem to notice what happened either. The older guard turned to face them as the truck pulled to a stop at what looked like a checkpoint.

"I must leave you to the care of these guards. They and the driver will continue on to your destination. I will meet you there."

The older guard jumped off the truck and it passed through the checkpoint and continued down the road. The driver made a turn on to another road and sped up. This road seemed to be a little more remote than the one they had been traveling. Kim didn't like it. Something was not right. She was about to speak to Ron when there was a tremendous bang and the truck lurched to the side. Ron pulled Kim onto the floor of the truck and covered her with his body. Kim chanced a glance to the side. She saw one of the guards stand up and look to the side of the road. There was a rattle of gunfire and his shirt shredded. There was a roar of more guns and they could hear the bullets slamming into the cab of the truck. Then there was silence.

They waited for several moments to see if there would be any more shooting. After waiting for a few more minutes to make sure it was all over, they started to slowly move.

Ron chanced a look through the wooden slats on the side. "I can't see anyone or anything but jungle."

Kim poked her head up and looked around also. Then she reached under the bench where Ron had been sitting and retrieved the keys. She was about to unlock her cuffs when she stopped. Ron looked at her.

"Come on Kim! Let's get these things off of us."

Kim shook her head. "Ron, something about this stinks like your socks. Why would they put young guards with us when we are supposed to be so important? Why would the main guard "accidentally" lose the keys to our handcuffs and then leave the truck? Why would Tri not be with us the entire time, seeing as he was so proud of capturing us?"

Ron whispered. "Set-up!"

Kim nodded. She stood up and shuffled to the side of the truck and dropped the keys off the side of the truck. Turning to Ron, she pointed at small pouches attached to the downed guard's belts.

"Grab the first aid kits off these soldiers. Let's see if we can help some of them."

Ron pointed to the one closest to them. "I don't think we can help him very much at all."

Kim glanced down at the young soldier who gazed up at the ceiling with open unseeing eyes. She nodded. "Yeah, but maybe we can help the others."

She grabbed the first aid kit from the dead soldier and shuffled over to one of the others lying in the bottom of the truck. Ripping open the pack, she pressed a bandage onto the wound in his stomach. The soldier moaned at the pressure on his stomach. Ron opened another med-pack and began to wrap a bandage around the leg of another soldier. The two could have been more efficient if their wrists hadn't been chained, but Kim and Ron made do.

Within a few minutes a number of jeeps and trucks came flying down the road from the direction they had been going. The two teens recognized Tri sitting in the first jeep along with the older guard. The jeep slowed to a stop as the truck behind it slammed on it's brakes. Troops leapt out of the truck and disappeared into the jungle. Tri walked up to the truck.

"You are still here? I would have imagined you would have run. It appears someone attacked the truck in hopes of freeing the two of you. Luckily we were not too far away and only just arrived. Those subversive elements wishing to free you must have left you behind."

Kim slowly stood, hampered as she was by the chains. "Why should we run? We've been arrested by the proper authorities. Plus, how could we run? We're still shackled. Unless you had reason to believe that we had the opportunity to somehow become unshackled. I guess we're lucky that you were close. It would have been bad if we had escaped or been killed."

Tri's face twitched just a bit as he pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew it. The soldiers that had run into the woods came back out and jumped onto the truck. The older guard walked down the side of the truck and bent down to pick up the keys from a puddle of water. Kim looked down at him.

"It is really interesting that you just arrived and somehow you knew just where those keys were."

The older guard looked back at Tri so see him giving him a look that made him swallow in fear. Kim and Ron could tell that Tri was so angry he could barely hold his temper. Tri turned and yelled a curt order and some of the soldiers jumped onto the truck with Kim and Ron and removed the dead and wounded guards. Another group of guards jumped onto the truck with Kim and Ron and took seats next to the two of them. Kim noticed a distinct odor coming from the guns that the guards were holding. They had been fired and very recently. She glanced over to Ron who nodded telling her he smelled the same thing.

Tri jumped back into the jeep as it turned around and headed back the way it had come. The truck driver started the truck and followed Tri's jeep. Kim and Ron sat back and tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible for the remainder of the trip.

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As they entered town, the sides of the road were lined with a mass of people. Signs depicting the KP logo were marked with big red X's over the logo. Other signs said Murderer or Spy. There were even a number of the Kim and Ron dolls being hung from signs. Every so often a rotten fruit would come flying in from some unseen assailant. Everyone was screaming to the small caravan while camera crews recorded every moment. Kim and Ron did not see the soldiers standing behind the crowds with weapons leveled at the backs of the crowd.

Kim blinked her eyes from the light of the sun as they turned onto the road that approached the main gate of their destination. A shake of her head forced the remains of some unknown fruit that had hit the back of her head and slid down her back. There were no screaming crowds now as Kim surveyed the area. She thought back to all the lairs and labs that they had broken into chasing all the different villains. She also thought back on the security measures on the Senior's island. This place made the Billionaire's island look like a playground fence. There were multiple layers of fence with concertina wire on the tops of each barricade. Some of the fences had rolls of concertina on both sides at the bottom, and between the two fences was a sandy area. Kim had no doubt that area was mined.

The truck pulled up to the first set of gates and stopped. Tri got out of his jeep and walked up to the small structure. He showed some papers to the guard, who then saluted and turned back inside. Moments later the first set of gates opened and the truck pulled forward, following the jeep. Kim watched as the gate slid closed behind them. They went through two more gates, each more secure than the other. Finally, the truck pulled through a large garage door. The truck traveled into the garage and parked. She watched as the heavy door rolled shut behind them. The light of the sun shut off as the door reached the bottom and latched with a loud thud.

Tri appeared at the end of the truck as more guards appeared. Two were pushing a set of stairs on rollers. The stairs were pushed up to the rear of the truck and locked down. A camera crew appeared at the end of the truck and started to film. Tri motioned for Kim and Ron.

"Please stand and disembark the truck. You will be taken your new quarters, and you can clean up there."

Kim rolled her eyes at the way Tri was speaking. There was no doubt he was playing to the camera. Kim and Ron stood and shuffled to the end of the truck and moved carefully down the stairs with the aid of two guards. The camera crew then followed the two of them to a nearby door, and filmed them walking through.

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Dr. Director sat in a chair in the conference room. Both families were there as they waited for the news feed about their children. So far nothing had been made public, but that would end with this broadcast. The news that Team Possible had been arrested for murder would soon be splashed over the airwaves and there was not a thing they could do about it.

The newscaster on World News Network looked up at the camera and began his report.

"There is shocking news out of the Far East. The two teens of Team Possible have been captured and placed under arrest for the charges of murder and numerous other charges in the country of Vietnam."

The following video showed the crowd scene as the truck passed by the camera. Most of the signs that people were holding garnered close-up shots from the camera.. There was also a good closeup of some fruit smacking Kim in the back of the head. The video changed to the inside of the prison, where it showed Kim and Ron in orange jumpsuits climbing off of the truck. Their hands were cuffed in front of them while chains on their ankles made it difficult for them to walk.

Anne took her husband's hand as they watched the news-feed. Jean sniffed as she watched the two of them get off the truck in chains.

There was an announcer's voice speaking over the video "The government of Vietnam announced today the arrest of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They claim that the two teens entered the country illegally to attack the lab of Dr. Drew Lipsky, who had recently been given asylum by this government. During their horrific attack on the lab, they murdered Dr. Lipsky and his assistant Sheila Go. The damage they inflicted on the lab caused the release of toxic fumes that killed nearly one hundred men, women and children in a nearby village. Full charges have not been leveled at the two teens at this time, barring communication with their government. The two teens have been well treated and given special prisoner status in a secure government facility, which was done for their own protection. The motorcade carrying the two teens was attacked while they were being transported to the prison, and several guards gave their lives protecting the two teens. It is unknown at this time if they will be turned over to the world court for war crimes or held in the country and tried locally."

Betty noticed a few things on the video that she would not share with the parents. Months before, Kim and Ron had come up with a plan to send messages in a very unnoticeable way. They sat down with her and she explained how it would work. Betty had watched both of them very closely. Mainly their eyes. Kim and Ron would blink in code. They would use the same code that had been taught to the pilots back in the Vietnam War, and it involved numbers. They would blink one number then another, with each number representing one letter. A short series of letters would mean a certain message. There was no doubt that both of them were blinking the message BGS. That meant they had been or were under going torture. Betty tried to catch another message but a guard stepped in front of the camera.

Dr. Director turned to the parents. "Well, at least they seem to be in better shape than when we last saw them. I really don't understand what is happening, but apparently the first officer who spoke about Kim and Ron didn't have the full approval of the government. They now are in the full custody of the government. Now that is good and bad. It's good as they will most likely be treated better. Bad, in the fact that the government is just as anxious to put them on trial. Whether it will be in the world court at the Hague or by the local government we don't know yet. The government has forbidden you to enter the country, but will allow someone from the embassy to see and talk with them. They will not allow the embassy to provide legal counsel. Apparently they would provide Kim and Ron with defense council."

Dean shook his head. "They won't have a chance. There is no way that they will be able to receive a fair trial like that."

Betty nodded in response. "Yes, I know. However there is little that we can do. I have already spoken with the State Department. However, they are not willing to place any pressure on the government at this time. Apparently with all the bad press Kim and Ron have been receiving turned several people against them. Right now it looks like they think Kim and Ron were just out to get Drakken and Shego. The fact that Drakken and Shego are reported dead, as well as those in that small village, does not make things look good. **You** know that they were set up, and **I** know that they were set up, but no one is going to believe us."

Anne Possible nodded and gripped her husband's hand. "I doubt that my outburst helped."

Betty winced. "No, probably not. This Tri has a lot of connections with the government. He is running the show, and until we can get in contact with your children we can only hope that they will be treated well."

The phone on the table buzzed and Betty snatched it up. "I gave orders that we were not to be disturbed. I….. WHAT? You MEAN……..? He has information on WHAT…..? Okay, I will be out there in just a minute."

The parents stared at Betty as she slowly placed the phone back on the cradle. She raised her face to look at them.

"We needed an act of God to help Kim and Ron… and I think we just got one. You will never believe what has happened."

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Kim and Ron continued to march down the hall of the prison, surrounded by the guards through a series of doors until they reached what would become their home. The guards opened the doors and prodded the two of them into a central room. It was sparsely furnished with a small table with four mismatched chairs, an old couch, one easy chair and a TV set placed on a couple of boards which were lying on cinder blocks. A VCR sat on the boards next to the TV.

The guards pulled Kim and Ron to a stop and proceeded to unlock the shackles on their wrists and ankles. The chains fell into piles in front of each of them and a guard knelt down and picked them up. He turned and left the room as Tri entered.

"This will be your quarters for the remainder of your stay. We have arranged for you to have separate rooms with their own baths. Sorry that the rooms are actually small cells themselves, but you will not be locked in the rooms each night. You will be free to move about your own rooms or in here. This will be your… entertainment room, as it were, and your meals will be delivered here. Some materials have been provided for your use. There is clothing in each of your rooms as well as personal and bath items."

Tri motioned cameras mounted in corners of the room that were enclosed with what appeared to be bullet proof, or tempered glass.

"You will be under twenty-four hour surveillance. You do not have to worry about privacy as the cameras in each of your rooms and baths will only be monitored by those of the appropriate sex. I would think that you both wish to bathe and change at this moment."

He turned and walked over to a phone mounted on the wall and continued. "This phone will connect you to the guards outside. If you have any needs please call and let them know. Please do not try to escape. You are in the center of this facility and you would have to get through several layers of guards to even reach the exterior of the building. All the air vents are only a few inches in size, so there is no way you would be able to crawl through those. Just do as you are asked, do not cause any problems, and your stay will be as comfortable as… possible." The corner of Tri's mouth ticked up at his own turn of phrase. "When you have cleaned up and wish something to eat, just ring the guards. The Swiss Embassy has offered to act on the behalf of both of you. There is someone here from their embassy at this time waiting to speak with you when you are finished cleaning up. As of this moment no one from the American Embassy will be allowed on the grounds. I will leave you now. Good day."

Tri spun and strode from the room motioning for the guards to leave as well. Kim and Ron watched as the heavy steel door swung shut with a dull thud and locked. They looked around the room and then at each other. No words passed between them for about a second, then the two embraced each other tightly. They separated with a small kiss and went to their separate rooms to clean up.

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Ron sat in front of the flickering TV watching a movie that was made before he was born. Kim came into the room rubbing a towel through her wet hair. She plopped down on the couch next to him. The springs squeaked and groaned as she bounced up and down. Ron put his hand on her leg.

"Be careful, this thing is not in that great a shape."

Kim stared at the screen. The movie was about a shipwrecked sea captain stuck in medieval Japan. It was full of fighting, ninjas, intrigue, and everything else you would see in a movie that was well over 12 hours long.

She shut her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. "We are in SO much trouble. I really want to see mom and dad. At this point I would even love to see the Tweebs."

Ron gave the top of her head a kiss. "I feel the same way. Maybe they will let us at least call our folks."

The lock on the door clacked and the door swung open. The guards stepped into the room with a tall blond man following close behind, who stopped just before entering the room. The guard motioned for the man to enter and then closed the door behind him. The man approached the two teens carrying a briefcase.

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, I am Frans Delbrook. I am an attaché with the Swedish Embassy. We have been asked by your government to contact you and see how you have been treated, and to see if we could do anything for you."

Kim and Ron stood and motioned toward the table, and all three of them sat down. Delbrook pulled two envelopes from his bag, and set one in front of each of the teens. Kim's heart did a flip-flop as she immediately recognized the handwriting on the outside of the envelopes. They were letters from their parents. She grabbed the one in front of her and just looked at it for a bit, her eyes welling with unshed tears. Ron was gently thumbing his handwritten name on his envelope, as he recognized his own mother's handwriting. Delbrook smiled when he saw the reactions of the teens.

"We thought that you would like to hear from your parents. The letters came with the diplomatic pouch and I brought them in. I think you might want to go ahead and read the letters now, so I will wait."

Kim took her letter and opened it up. There was one sheet of paper inside which she gently unfolded and started to read.

"_Kimmie, the Swiss Embassy allowed us to fax these letters to their office and said they would deliver them to you. I just hope they do find you. We were so shocked by the first video and so very concerned about your condition. We just saw the new tapes and could see that you were as well as could be expected. We are trying everything we can to get you some help, but the government is just not cooperating. They have concluded that you were vigilantes and entered the country to gain revenge on Drakken and Shego. They say that they cannot interfere with the lawful process of that country. That doesn't mean that we have given up. We have other ideas and are investigating them now. _

_Kimmie, we love you and Ron so much. I guess in hindsight we should have stopped this long ago, but what you two do is your calling. I don't think you could have lived your life in any other way. It comforts me to know that Ron is there at your side. That is right where he belongs. Never give up hope sweetie, never give up hope."_

Squeezing the paper hard enough to crinkle it, Kim gently placed her hands on her lap, closed her eyes, and took a breath in an effort keep from crying.

At the same time that Kim was reading her letter, Ron was reading his. He immediately noticed that his mom was writing for her and his dad.

"_Ronnie, I hope this letter finds you as well as you can be. We love you and miss you so much. We are all upset when we found out what had happened, and are so concerned for your safety. The government is not helping much and Dr. Director told us that there is not much she can do either. But we are exploring other avenues. Rufus is here with us and squeaks hello. Your sister calls out you name every night and won't go to sleep unless there is a picture of you in her room. _ (Ron could feel his eyes tearing at that point)

"_We are here with Kim's parents, and they have been such a big help to us. Ronnie, I know that I tried to get you to see some Jewish girl, but that was just not to be. I guess I closed my eyes to what grew between Kim and you over the years. I could not have dreamed that you would have found someone that fits you as well as Kim does. The two of you grew up together, knew each other faults and strengths, trusted each other, hurt each other and forgave each other. You two built something that I am amazed and rejoice at. Both your father and I pray that what the two of you have will continue to grow. When the two of you are together I know all will be well. Give Kim our love."_

Ron put down his letter and turned to Kim. Through his own tear-filled eyes, he could see that Kim had been crying as well.

"Can we keep these?" Kim asked, but Frans just slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry Miss Possible, but I have to leave here with everything that I walked in with. The guards said no exceptions. I'm sorry."

Kim looked down at her letter as if was the most important possession in her life. She gently folded the letter back up, placed it back inside the envelope, and gave it a loving kiss. Ron handed his envelope back to her, and Kim handed both back to Frans.

"You okay KP?" Ron asked taking her hand in his.

Kim wiped the tears from her eyes, nodded with a sniff, and turned to Frans. "What happens now?"

Frans took the letters, gently placed them back into his bag, and then spoke. "We are working with the government here in an attempt to help with your defense. We do not know if they will try you themselves or send you to The Hague for war crimes. It all depends on how much publicity they want and how much they want to showcase your alleged crimes. If they send you to The Hague, you would be tried in a world court. You would most likely not receive any death sentence but an extended prison sentence if found guilty. There would be a great deal of publicity and it would be extremely embarrassing for both you and the U.S. government. If they try you here, then your chances of being found guilty are much greater and you would most likely receive a death sentence. However, most of the proceedings would most likely be kept from the public eye. It would simply be an internal matter. We can only hope for The Hague."

Kim gave Ron's hand a squeeze. "If we wrote letters, could you take them to our parents?"

Once again Frans winced. "Yes, I can. But they would have to clear them first. So I would not write anything that would cause them to destroy the letter, or keep me from leaving with it. Don't mention anything about what has happened. Talk about each other and try and be as upbeat as you can. I'll wait while you write."

Kim looked at Ron. "Why don't we write one together so we can get it done faster? Also they will only have one letter to go over."

Ron nodded. "You write KP, mom swears my writing looks like a chicken ran across the paper."

Kim giggled. At least she could count on his humor to help them through the overall situation.

Kim picked up a pen and some paper that Frans gave her and began to write.

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"_Mom, Dad, Dean and Jean Stoppable,_

_Ron and I decided to write this letter together. We are okay and have been treated as well as we could expect. Please find out about the troops that were killed protecting us and try to send our thanks. The government as given us quarters here at the prison. Rufus would like to get in here, that is for sure. _

_We are so sorry for this happening. We know that it is hard on you, but know that we are together and okay. We are in good shape, just like the night we beat the Diablos. Tell Wade we don't blame him for his information getting us into this. Let Monique know that this whole thing was like the night Erik took me to the prom. We hope to write more later, but wanted to get this note out to you. We love you and miss you very much, that means the Tweebs too. We know that you will do all that you can for us. Let Betty know that we got into this with our eyes open. _

_Kim and Ron."_

Anne's hand shook as she held the paper in her hand after reading the letter aloud. James sat at her side holding her other hand. Dean pulled Jean into a hug with his arm around her shoulders. The parents sat in the living room at the Possible's home. Tim and Jim sat on the floor in front of their parents, their own faces full of dismay. They glanced at each other and then to their parents. They knew their sister was in trouble, but she had been in trouble before and came back.

Jim looked up at his mom. "Mom? Is Kim going to be okay?"

Anne looked down at her two sons. "We hope so dear, but things are a little different this time. We can only hope that something will work out."

Jim and Tim looked at each other. They knew their mother pretty well. She had the coolest head of anyone in the family and right now they could tell she was barely holding it together. They knew if she was this worried, then things were really bad.

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Betty stared at her copy of the short letter from Kim and Ron that they had just received. Their parents were holding onto the original letter like it was the most precious thing in the world. Even though it was short, at least it was some form of communication from their children. Betty looked at the note in a totally different manner. It told her a lot more than she really wanted to know. She would not be telling the parents, yet that is, that the entire note was also a cryptic message.

Kim was one to make plans within plans. It was an idea Ron had that gave them for what to do if they were ever seriously captured or in a dangerous situation. Basically, she had to read the message in "reverse attitude." The note told her several things along with the message they had sent by the blinking. The two of them had gone through some serious beatings and or torture and the treatment had been bad up to this point. The situation with the guards and the shooting was a setup in an attempt to kill or injure them. The Rufus reference told her that they were in a very secure place with little to no chance of escape. The Wade reference told her that they knew the information given them had been false or doctored. The Diablo reference was another reference that they had been beaten. The Eric reference meant that they knew that they had been set up and that somehow Drakken was part of the set up. The last reference told her that they knew that bad information had come from GJ, and it was also another reference to them being set up. Betty sat back and pressed a button to bring her intelligence chief in. They had a lot of work to do, and little time to do it.

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Howdy everyone, I would like to apologize for the long time in updating. Its mostly my fault. I just got wrapped up in so many of my other stories. We are back on this one now and hope the updates will come a little more frequent. Whitem and I did this chapter together as we will on the rest of the chapters. Whitem is a great partner and showed a lot of patience with me on this chapter. We both thank all of you for reading and reviewing. Drop us a review, we would appreciate it.

The Captain.


	12. Chapter 12 Thoughts in the Dark

**Trials of the heart**

**Chapter 12**

**Thoughts in the Dark**

* * *

Kim's cot squeaked as she rolled over. She opened her eyes when she heard the door to their area open and she immediately sat up. The guards normally didn't come in until later in the morning. She then heard he sound of several feet came toward her room. Four guards charged into her cell and dragged her out of bed. Before she could even think her hands had been bound behind her back and she was jerked to her feet.

"Hey, what's the…."

She barely had those words out of her mouth when one of the guards backhanded her hard enough to make her head snap to one side.

"Silence, the court has found you guilty and the sentence will be carried out immediately."

Kim's heart jumped as the guards dragged her out of her cell into the central room. She noticed Ron was receiving the same treatment. She glared at the guard who had struck her.

"What to you mean? We haven't even been to the court to hear the verdict."

The guard answered her question by sticking a cloth in her mouth and tying it behind her head. The other guard gagged Ron at the same time. After tying their arms together at the wrists they hauled the teens out of the room. Both of them stumbled as they made their way down the hallway. After a number of turns, they reached a door that opened into a small courtyard. Two tall posts were buried in the ground against a pockmarked brick wall. The guards lead them each to a post and tied them firmly to the posts. The main guard then removed their gags and walked away.

Kim screamed out. "We have not been in court for the verdict!"

An officer spoke from the shadows. "There is no need for that. You were found guilty on all charges and immediately sentenced to death. It was felt best for all concerned that the verdict to be carried out at once. Sgt. Chuong prepare your men."

One of the guards turned to a group of men standing at the far end of the courtyard. He called them to attention and marched them to a point in front of the two teens, their AK-47's held at the ready. Choung stepped over to Kim and Ron and spoke with heavily accented English.

"Do you wish a blindfold?"

Both of them shook their heads. Kim stared over at the officer standing in the shadows, squinting to try and see who had been calling the shots. "This is not right. We have not had any time...."

The unseen officer spoke again. "We do not care what is right or wrong. You came into this country, attacked it's citizen's and murdered others. You should pay the ultimate price."

An alarm sounded from inside the prison and search lights started to play around the area. One focused on Kim and Ron. The officer gestured to one of the guards who ran to the door to the courtyard and locked it. He then also barred the door with a beam.

Kim stared back at the officer with a sickening realization. "You don't have orders to do this. They are looking for us and will be here at any second."

The officer shrugged. "No matter. You will be dead by the time they get here and my countrymen will be avenged. Sergeant, do what you need to do."

The sergeant turned to his men who were standing in front of Kim and Ron. There were four men in front of each of them, and he sergeant yelled out.

"Sẵn sàng!"

The soldiers turned to Kim and Ron, cocked their rifles and stood ready.

The sergeant really another order.

"Với mục tiêu!"

The men aimed their rifles. Kim thought the ends of the rifles looked like caves. There was yelling around the area and someone began banging on the door, and there were a number of rifle shots. A few of the bullets struck the ground in front of the soldiers. The officer stepped out from the shadows just as the sergeant started to yell the last command.

Kim's eyes dilated when she saw the officer's face. He spoke. "This is what happens to amateurs."

Kim stared into the face of Will Du as the sergeant yelled. "Cháy!"

Kim screamed just as the rifles fired.

Her scream reverberated around her room as she sat up. Her clothes and sheets were drenched in sweat. She put her hand to her chest quickly exploring it. Looking around she saw she was still in her cell, and then she heard the sound of running feet and Ron appeared at her door.

"KP? What's wrong?"

Without a word Kim jumped out of bed into his arms wrapping her self around him. He gently held onto Kim while her sobs slowly subsided. Ron didn't say a word but held her as he stroked her back with his hand.

After a few minutes he backed out of the hug, gently held her wet cheeks in his hands and whispered a question into her ear. "Bad dream?"

Kim sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Furiously bad dream."

After another quick hug, Ron asked "Care to tell me about it?"

She nodded again, then pointed out into the main room. "Let's have a seat on the couch. I really don't want to be alone now."

They held on to each other as they made their way to the couch. Ron sat down and Kim nestled herself into his lap. She sighed and told Ron her dream, leaving nothing out.. After she finished, Ron put his finger under her chin and lifted it so he could stare into her eyes.

"And I thought I had weird dreams."

Kim nestled her head back onto his shoulder. "I don't know Ron. I know I'm not any kind of psychologist, but why would I dream of Will like that? Do you think he could have anything to do with what happened?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, you know what happened to him. He was demoted to intelligence, and that's where the information came from that sent us on this mission. We can try to get word to Dr. Director, but I don't think it will do us any good. I mean, I doubt she would check up on Will just because of a dream."

"Yeah, I know." Kim then paused and snuggled in closer to Ron's chest. "I really don't want to be alone now. Mind if we stay right here?"

Ron gave her a kiss on the top of the head. "Be right back."

He got up and went into his room and returned with a blanket. Kim got up and let him lay down first. She then lay down next to him and nestled herself close. Ron then pulled the blanket over the two of them, all the while the camera on the wall stayed focused on the two as they gently went back to sleep.

* * *

Sitting on the couch Kim and Ron turned to face the door to their quarters as it swung open. Tri stepped into the room and saluted another officer as he entered the room. Ron had noticed earlier that this officer had three stars on his shoulder tabs. He must be an important officer by the way Tri and the others were acting.

The important officer spoke in clipped English. "Miss Kimberly Possible, Mr. Ronald Stoppable. I am Lt. General Trung. Our government has decided not to send you to the World Court and will try you here. I will be acting as President of the military court that will be holding your trial. I wished to meet you beforehand as a courtesy. I have reviewed the evidence that has been presented against you. At this point you will be tried as combatants and not private citizens of another country. Your counsel will explain what this means. We will allow both the American Embassy and the Swedish Embassy to provide defense counsel."

Both teens relaxed a bit as the General continued.

"We will allow you to speak with your counsel before you plead to the charges. In addition, our government has consented to allow your parents to enter the country. They flew in yesterday and are staying at the American Embassy. They are presently waiting for you in another room in this facility. Please note, their presence here is only at our courtesy. Any misbehavior by you will force us to reconsider our actions. They have been informed of the same. Your counsel has already spoken with them and informed them as to how the trial will proceed. Do you wish to say anything at this time?"

Kim and Ron shook their heads. Both were too excited, knowing that their parents were close by, to care about anything else.

General Trung continued. "Very well. Your trial will start in two days time, at which you may plead to the charges that are being levied against you. The guards will take you to the room where your parents are waiting."

Trung turned and left the room as the guards approached the two of them with shackles. After they were shackled as before, the guards nodded to them and motioned for the two to proceed out of the room. Kim noticed that there were several guards both in front and behind them. They seemingly walked forever until they approached another door. Kim had no doubt that the roundabout circuit they took was meant to confuse them as to where the room really was. One guard opened the door and motioned for them to enter. They entered the room initially with heads down not expecting anything at first, but looked up at hearing voices that they recognized.

James and Dean were talking with three other gentlemen. Their mothers were sitting on a couch along one wall. The guards started to remove their shackles as their mothers stood up. Kim could see her mother's lip quivering as she watched the guards remove her shackles, and could tell that she was holding back running to her.

Ron could tell his mom was barely holding it together as his Dad held her shoulders tight. The guards picked up the shackles and left the room. Everyone stood in total silence at first as they stared at each other. Then in an explosion of movement, the parties all ran toward each other. Their collision in the center of the room degenerated into a volley of tears, gasps, kisses, hugs and muffled wails. Kim thought her dad would break her ribs before he let go. Her mother showered her face and head with kisses. At the same time Ron was receiving the same treatment from his parents.

After a few moments, they all relaxed as Ann took her daughters face in her hands. "Kimmie… baby, oh it's so good to see you."

With out another word, Ann turned to Ron and enveloped him in a hug with just as much emotion she had given Kim. Before Anne was finished, both parents had exchanged children and held on to them as if they were their own as well.

James pulled back from hugging Ron, and lifted his hand pressing it against the back of Ron's neck while looking into his eyes. "Ronald, it's so good to see you."

Jean kissed Kim on her forehead. "Kimberly, oh my sweet Kimberly."

Kim wrapped her arm around Ron's mom and held as tight as she had her own mother, while tears flowed from her eyes. After a few minutes the group broke up and moved to a number of chairs and the couch. Kim and Ron were then ushered to the couch, Kim by Mrs. Stoppable, and Ron by Mr. Possible.

James then turned to the other gentlemen who had been standing back a respectful distance from the obviously joyful family reunion. "Kim, Ron… This is John Daniels, Glenn Purdue, and you already know Mr. Delbrook."

Both teens stood as the three men approached the group. Franz Delbrook motioned for them to sit back down. "Please have a seat. No need to stand on our account. I shall let Mr. Purdue explain everything."

Glenn pulled a small packet of papers from a case he was carrying and took a seat just across from the two of them. He spoke in a matter of fact tone. "The government here could have taken the matter to the World Court, but they apparently decided to handle it as an internal matter. This however, will make our job a little harder. We have just received a full set of charges that they will be presenting in court. We don't have a lot of time to get ready, so what I would like you to do is to have the two of you start at the beginning and tell us everything that has happened to lead you to this point."

Kim glanced over at Ron and he nodded. She turned back to face Glenn.

"Well, I guess it all started when..."

* * *

Glenn sat back from his pad while flexing his fingers from writing notes. Kim and Ron had just spent almost an hour giving an abbreviated version of what had happened to them over the past few months.

He leaned forward to look directly at the two teens. "Okay, now this will be a question that the prosecution will ask. Did you intentionally attack the lab site where Dr. Drakken and Shego were allegedly located?"

Kim nodded. "Well yes, but...."

Glenn held up his hand to stop her.

"I know Miss Possible. The two of you have the authority from most governments in this world to do exactly as you did. However, this time, Dr. Drakken and Shego had been given asylum, as they were working in an official government lab. As a result, your attack on them voided any authority that you had before."

Kim's eyes grew wide and immediately protested. "But we didn't know about the asylum. All we knew was that Drakken had set up this lab. Wade told...."

Glenn shook his head. "I am fully aware of the report that Wade gave you. Unfortunately his information was based on incorrect intelligence. Inaccurate intelligence will not be an excuse the court will consider. It is well known that enmity already existed between the four of you. There are also rumors circulating that the two of you made threats against Drakken and Shego."

Kim's mouth fell open. "We haven't said anything about them, I mean no more than anyone would spouting off."

Glenn then looked straight at Ron. "Will you deny that you said you would kill Drakken and Shego if you could get your hands on them?"

Ron sat back in shock. "I never said anything like that."

Glenn sighed. "Well apparently someone at your high school overheard the two of you talking and quoted you. The news media picked it up and you can imagine what happened."

Kim closed her eyes and leaned over against Ron. "We've been set up before but someone could get an Academy Award for this one."

Glenn nodded.

"Yes, it apparently was planned out very well. Although I don't think it was planned this way from the beginning. I think things were going as originally conceived, but somewhere along the line a number of things were planned or influenced in some fashion or another."

He then reached over and pulled a few legal papers from the stack he had brought to the table. Glenn took a breath and pushed it out, tipping Kim and Ron off that he was about to say something unpleasant. "Well, I might as well get this part over with. These will be the formal charges. Some are pretty standard. Others will very serious. The first is unlawful entry into the country. Another will be trespassing in a restricted area. These charges are pretty much standard and would normally result in some jail time and expulsion from the country. The other charges are a totally different manner though. There will be two charges of attacking a government facility and several for attacking a government official. All of these charges have either life sentences or the death penalty."

Kim noticed her mother closing her eyes and shivering while her dad held tight with a grim look on his face. Glenn continued.

"Now, the murder charges are interesting. No one has been able to see the bodies of Drakken or Shego. No one has been able to verify exactly what happened to the villagers either, as no one has been allowed on site. They have NO real evidence that any deaths occurred. Unless they can produce bodies I think we can beat or at least bring these charges to a lower level. I know it's a thin defense, but I will take what I can get. I think your status as celebrities, along with your previous record, will actually help in this aspect. While the attacking charges will be easier to prove and the majority of the world to believe, no one will believe a murder charge without some bodies that can be independently verified."

Kim and Ron joined hands as they stared at the table. Kim felt numb, yet forced her mouth to speak. "What will happen if we are found guilty on the attack charges?"

Glenn glanced around the table, and Frans looked at the ceiling while John riffled through some papers. Mrs. Stoppable began to sniffle as Ann put her arm around her shoulder.

Glenn sighed. "Kim, do you...."

Kim interrupted, speaking firmly. "Ron and I want to hear it from you. We have been threatened, beaten, and everything else. We want to know. We deserve to know our chances"

Glenn sighed. "Ninety nine percent of the time, either of the attack charges will bring a death penalty."

Kim took a ragged breath. "Okay, how?"

Glenn blanched. "Kim, please. I really...."

Kim's voice was clipped and determined. "Tell us."

He swallowed and nodded. "In this country, the death penalty is by firing squad or hanging."

Kim squeezed Ron's hands as they sat side by side. "Okay, we know the sitch. Let's get to work."

* * *

The gavel rapped on the podium as the court was called to order. General Trung turned to the prosecutor.

"Is the prosecution ready?"

A Colonel stood at his table. "We are your honor."

Trung turned to the defense table. "Is the defense ready?"

Glenn stood. "Yes your honor."

Trung nodded to the court.

"We will be conducting this trial in English for the benefit of the defendants. Colonel Nguyen will you proceed."

Nguyen stood with a sheaf of papers. "Your Honor, the charges have been presented to both the court and the defendants. The state charges Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable with illegal entry into the country… Illegal entry to a restricted area of this state… Attack on a government facility… and attacks on government officials."

Trung nodded and turned to Glenn. "Are the defendants ready to plead?"

Glenn stood. "Yes your Honor."

Trung turned to Kim and Ron. "Will the defendants stand?"

Both stood while holding hands tightly. They had been allowed regular clothing for the courtroom, so Kim was wearing a nice dress while Ron had a button down shirt and khakis. They continued to hold hands as they waited for Trung to speak. Trung made a notation on his papers.

"How to you plead?" Kim and Ron straightened up and spoke in unison.

"Not Guilty."

Trung nodded and made a notation on his paper.

"Very well, the defendants plead not guilty. The prosecution can now proceed."

Unseen by anyone in the court room, one individual who was sitting in the back row near a large column, made eye contact with three others in the room who were located at the other three corners of the court room.

* * *

We are back! Whitem and I hope that you enjoy this segment of our story. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13

**Trials of the Heart**

**Chapter 13**

* * *

The two teens held on to each other in the darkness of their cell. It had been a very long week and the two of them were exhausted. They had not testified at all but had to sit there through the prosecution's case.

The trial had gone on all that week with the prosecution presenting its case. As Hans had expected, the prosecution had relied on the fact that the two of them were in the country illegally, that they attacked the government facility and that they attacked a number of government officials. The one thing that Hans found very interesting was the fact that the prosecution barely mentioned Drakken or Shego's name throughout their presentation. They had a lot of video from the remains of the lab that showed Kim and Ron breaking in and taking out several guards with the knockout gas.

The prosecution called their knockout gas a weapon of mass destruction. Additional video showed them going directly into the room where Drakken and Shego were. The audience watched as Drakken jumped around and dropped the two beakers, starting the disaster. The prosecution had called in several of the guards and lab workers all of whom testified as to how Kim and Ron attacked the facility with extreme prejudice and no warning. The tapes were shown again and again replayed from different angles and played again. Another video showed the remains of the lab and a line of bodies. Kim and Ron sat through all of it as did their families. The days turned to a week and then the prosecution finally rested.

Hans had done the best he could, but he was limited by the government as to what he could present in their defense. He challenged the fact that Kim and Ron had entered the country illegally, with the reason that they had global clearance to enter a country if they had information of an ongoing crime. All of their intelligence had shown that. Hans used their "Save the World" status in an attempt to convince the judges that Kim and Ron had every reason and right to enter the facility just as they had any of the lairs that Drakken and Shego had previously used. It was not until later that the two heroes realized that the facility was a government one.

Hans turned the idea of mass destruction against the court when the video showed the damage done by the gas that Drakken and Shego had been making. Kim had been impressed by what he presented. After three days of presentation, Hans rested his case. The final arguments were presented and the court recessed to deliberate.

And now, lying on the old rumpled couch, Ron softly stroked Kim's hair as she leaned against him with her head on his shoulder. Neither wanted to be alone right now, and all they could do was wait. There was a knock at the door and Hans entered.

"Kim, Ron, the court had returned their judgment. We need to return to the courtroom."

* * *

Anne Possible walked out onto the veranda of the American Embassy. She stepped over to where Jean Stoppable stood as she looked out over the city. Anne stopped and simply stood next to her friend. The day had been hard on both of the mothers. The Vietnamese government had been nice enough to let them stay in the country and attend the trial, and they were told those privileges could be revoked if there were any problems.

Jean's hand slipped over from gripping the handrail and took Anne's in a tight grip.

"Anne, what do you think will happen?"

Anne struggled to keep her voice from quivering.

"I don't know Jean. I just don't know. Those two have been through so much. But now, the one thing I feared could happen has happened. Circumstances have gone against them. I really think that I could have handled it if they had actually been killed on a mission. But this? This is worse. It's like I am watching them slowly die day by day. Hans is nice and he is working hard, but I think even he knows he is fighting against the tide. We can only hope that the judges will be merciful and maybe, just maybe… give them prison sentences and let them go in a few years. But..."

Jean tightened her grip on Anne's hand and spoke.

"When Ron started helping Kim around town, I thought it was cute. They enjoyed doing everything together and really seemed to have fun doing it. Then, the real missions started up and they were going around the world. I didn't know what to think.

Ron... I knew he was scared, and knew that he had messed up as many times as he helped, but he didn't want Kim going alone. I wanted so many times to put my foot down and tell him that he was not going. But, I just didn't have the heart to. Kim, she was his world. I know he had some other friends, but Kim was his **best** friend. Then I noticed that he was speaking about her and looking at her in a different manner, and I knew that something deeper was happening. But I don't know if even he understood. He has such low esteem that he just didn't seem to want to take that chance."

Jean paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing.

"Then that time came before the Diablo's, and Kim started seeing that other boy. I thought Ron was going to fall to pieces. But I was never prouder of him than when Kim needed him when James was kidnapped. He dropped everything to help. Then the Diablo's came. That night, when he came home after the prom? I saw the look on his face, and I knew something had changed… And I guess we both know the rest of that story."

* * *

Kim sat on the edge of her cot staring at the wall. Under the fresh coat of paint that that been placed there she could make out the remains of etchings in the concrete. The names were completely unfamiliar to her but they were no doubt the names of previous American occupants of the room. There was little noise except for the air coming from the air vents. At least that was one upgrade that had been made for them. The government had installed air conditioning, yet they didn't want the two teens to have access to any windows. The air grilles were armored, and the ducts were too small for them to get into.

After the verdict was read, the room had been in chaos for a few moments. After the room had finally quieted down the sentence was not long in coming. It was exactly as they had been warned; death by hanging.

There was further pandemonium as the respective families and the world media, at least those allowed in the room, reacted to the news. Mrs. Stoppable fainted into her husband's arms as Mr. Possible had to physically restrain his wife from vaulting over the chairs to attack the judges. Needless the say her language was quite colorful. The judge had told the guards to clear the courtroom and take the two of them back to their cell.

That had been just a couple of days ago. They had been allowed to see their parents for a few hours that morning. Their parents seem to age several years in just the hours they were together. Little was said at first, then they began to speak of past times like the Halloween when Kim dressed up as the cowboy and Ron was the ballerina. They spoke of the different missions and times at school and their lives. Then they spoke of the two of them getting together with high hopes of the future.

Soon it was time for the parents to leave, and that was the hardest part. Just before they left, James grabbed Ron in a fierce hug and held on to him for several moments. He turned his head and whispered something to Ron. Ron, with tears in his eyes nodded and hugged his other father that much harder. Mrs. Stoppable held on to Kim for just as long. The two women whispered to each other for a few moments, then as she drew back, Jean gave Kim a kiss on her forehead. The guards lead their parents out and the door closed behind them. Each of them had gone to their own rooms to think for a little bit to collect their thoughts.

In a few hours this would all would be over. Kim's hands came up to cover her face but no tears fell, as the crying had long since passed. She worried over her parents and her brothers. What world would they face after this?

Then there was Ron's family. They were losing their only son. Team Possible, heroes to so many, and had experienced what many in the limelight had experienced. But their fall from grace was now complete. They had been the darlings of the jet-set, honored by governments and heads of state. They were personas nongrata. Before now, they had stood as heroes of the world, now they sat as convicted criminals. The fact that they had been literally thrown to the wolves by so many of those they had protected hurt even more.

"KP?"

Kim lifted her eyes to see Ron standing there at the door to her room. She got up and settled into his arms.

The steel door to their main room clanked open and the measured tread of feet approached their private rooms. A number of guards appeared as well as Gen. Tri. Two other guards motioned for Kim and Ron to exit the room and stand in the central room. As the two walked out, they noticed four armed guards on each side of them, their rifles leveled at both of them.

Kim turned to face Tri. "Are you still afraid of us even now?"

Tri stood impassive. "Laugh if you want Miss Possible, but soon it will be I who will be laughing."

Tri motioned for the two guards to approach the teens. In their hands were restraining belts. Ron put up a hand to say something. The guards hesitated and their rifles came up to point at Ron.

"Dude, do you think you could give us a couple of minutes? Then do what you want to us." Tri thought for a second, and then motioned for the guards to move to the other side of the room.

There was only one way in and out so the two teens were not going anywhere. Ron took Kim into his arms and held her to his chest. She burrowed her face into his neck and sighed. Here she was at peace. Ron lifted her chin and caressed her lips with his. The two teens held the kiss for but a moment then broke apart.

The guards then stepped up to the teens and pulled their arms behind them. The belts went around their waists and cinched tight, their hands placed in the cuffs attached to the belts and strapped down. Another strap was taken around their upper arms and around their chests pinning their arms to their sides. The first two guards led the way, with Kim first and Ron following. The other guards fell into place behind Ron.

The two teens walked up the hall and made the turn down the main hall. They shuffled down the hall several feet and made a turn into the gallows room. There Kim lifted her head to see the steps in front of her. Above her, hanging over the platform, were two nooses. Kim slowly mounted the steps with her knees shaking. If she hadn't felt Ron's presence behind her giving her strength, she would have collapsed right then and there. But together, they would show everyone that Team Possible would face any sitch with utmost courage.

Finally both of them reached the top of the stairs. The guard pulled on their arms guiding them across the platform to stand on the trapdoors. Tri gave an order and another guard picked up two more straps. He pulled Kim's ankles together and wrapped the strap around them and cinched it down. He then repeated the process on Ron.

Tri jerked a piece of paper from his coat and began to read. "Kimberly Ann Possible, Ronald Dean Stoppable. You have been found guilty of the crimes of entering the country illegally, entrance to a restricted area, attack of a government facility and the attack on government officials. The sentence for said crimes is to be hanged by the neck until you are dead. Do you have anything to say?"

Ron spoke first. "What do you want to hear? You want us begging for our lives? Not going to happen. KP and I have faced death with a smile more than once, and from a lot worse men than you." He then turned towards Kim the best he could with his feet strapped together. "KP, I have one question for you. I know it's not going to happen, but your answer would mean everything to me. Will you marry me?"

Kim twisted her head around so she could see her boyfriend and look into his eyes. His face was all aglow while he waited for her answer.

"Yes Ron, with all my heart… yes." Ron's look of apprehension immediately turned into a grin.

"That's all I wanted to hear. I'll see you on the other side Kim."

Tri then waited to see if Kim or Ron had anything else to say. When Kim shook her head he motioned for the guards to proceed.

Kim turned her head to look forward and swallowed as the guard pulled the black denim hood over her head. The large front and back flaps fell down her chest and back. The smell of clean denim came to her nose, and thoughts of helping her mom with the laundry came to mind. Then the times she and Ron would just lay out in the sun in Middleton Park and let the sun warm them. Their jeans would warm in the summer sun and give off that wonderful clean denim smell as well.

She then felt the hood shift as the noose slipped over her head. The fabric pressed against her face as the rope passed by. It lay against her chest for a moment and then tightened, making her gasp a little. The hood's fabric chafed at her skin as the rope was pulled tight around her neck. The weight of the noose then shifted around to her left ear, indicating that it was time.

The loud clanking of the safety bar supporting the trap door made the wood vibrate beneath her feet. Now the only thing holding her up was the trip catch to the trapdoor. Soon that would open. She knew that she would fall nearly eight feet before she reached the end of the rope.

Eight feet… maybe two seconds of free fall. This would be her last free fall. How many times had she and Ron jumped out of planes and free fell for seconds, maybe even minutes, when they went on a mission? Kim then remembered a conversation they had the evening before.

_The doctor had come by to explain what would happen. How their weight, combined with their height, would determine how far they would drop until the rope would snap their necks. Then she had heard Ron giggle at something._

"_Ron, what is so funny?" She had asked with an almost horrified look on her face._

_Cocking his head sideways with a grin Ron said, "Well KP, I guess this is where we really find out that it's not the fall that hurts, but the sudden stop at the end."_

_Kim remembered sitting there with her mouth open looking at her boyfriend. Then she had giggled as well. Leave it to Ron to find humor, even in this sitch. She leaned over and gave him a kiss as she whispered in his ear._

"_You are getting too morbid for your own good."_

Kim was snapped back to the present when the trapdoor beneath her vibrated again as the safety catch was engaged and disengaged again. For a few moments it was completely silent. The air under the hood was getting stale. A familiar odor came to her nose, the scent of her shampoo. A smile crossed her face, knowing that was one thing she knew Ron loved about her, her smile. Then there were several loud buzzes behind her, and then several yells and the movement of feet. Then Tri started screaming something. Next, she heard another clack and the wood slipped from beneath her feet. Kim closed her eyes as she fell.

* * *

Jean, Dean, Ann and James stood in front of the American embassy. The worst moment in their lives had come as they awaited the arrival of the ambulance from the prison. The vehicles would be carrying a very precious cargo.

The sound of several sirens came to their ears as they glanced up the street. The marine guards at the gate pulled the gate open, came to attention and saluted as the ambulance entered the embassy grounds, escorted by two Military Police vehicles. The sirens died as the vehicles came to a stop in front of the embassy. Two groups of Marines in dress blues marched up to the ambulance and opened the rear door. The parents of the two teens watched as two steel gray coffins were pulled from the rear of the ambulance.

Before the coffins were moved any further, an American flag was draped over each. An Honor Guard snapped to attention as the two coffins were then carried into the Embassy. The parents followed the coffins as they were carried into the embassy and laid on biers that waited for them in the entry way of the Embassy.

The American Ambassador approached the parents. "The flight is ready when you are. We already have clearance to leave. All we have to do is take off."

James turned to the Ambassador. "Thank you. We would like to leave as soon as possible. We want to get our children home."

The Ambassador solemnly nodded.

* * *

Jean stood and walked around a little as soon as she was able after take-off. By now they had been in the air for about fifteen minutes or so, and all she could do was sit there and stare at the flag draped coffin that held her son. After another few moments, she stood and walked over to the coffin and pulled back the flag. Fumbling with the lid she tried to pull it up.

Dean jumped to her side. "Dear, I don't..."

Jean turned to him. "I want to see my son, I want to see Ronnie."

Dean stopped for a moment and looked over to James and Ann. They stood up and joined them.

Anne took Jean's hand and turned to James. "And I want to see Kimmie."

James nodded and turned to the officer that was the head of the detail with them. The officer pulled the key to the coffin lids from his pocket. He walked over to each coffin in turn and unlocked the lids. Then, he turned and nodded to the honor guard standing in the room. He motioned them out of the room. Then they all left the parents alone in the room with their children.

James reached down and pulled the lid of Kim's coffin open. Anne grabbed his arm as she stepped to his side and both gazed down at their daughter. Kim lay in the midst of the satin interior. Her eyes were closed and her hands lay across her chest. Her porcelain skin appeared to glow in the light of the cabin of the plane. There was the hint of a dark bruise around her neck under the collar of her shirt.

Dean and Jean opened the lid of Ron's coffin and gazed down at their son. His head lay on the pillow as a small smile crossed his face. His hands lay crossed on his chest as well. Reaching down Anne caressed Kim's face. She sobbed as she continued to stroke her daughter's features.

Without realizing it, both Anne and Jean spoke the same words at the same time. "My baby, my poor little baby..."

* * *

To be concluded

Conclusion coming in one day.


	14. Chapter 14

Trials of the Heart

Chapter 14

* * *

Two figures huddled under the funeral tent after all others had left. The rain fell in sheets and was whipped by the strong breeze that caused the tent to shake. The two stared at the large stone monument sitting at the head of the two elongated holes in the ground. The racks for the coffins were still there and empty chairs stood in solemn rows in the fading light of the day. Even in the failing light the words on the large headstone marking the two graves were clear.

Ronald Dean Stoppable - Kimberly Ann Possible

Together in life – Together for eternity

They gave everything they could

Everything was taken from them

We will always believe in you

Kim turned and snuggled closer under Ron's arm. The movement was complicated by the stiff brace around her neck. Ron would have normally bent over and kissed the top of her head but his neck sported the same device. They each had to take a step to the side and lean to the left as they faced each other. It was literally a pain in the neck, but the kiss was worth it. With any luck they would be able to ditch the braces after a visit to the doctor later in the week.

Kim gave him a quick squeeze then reached down to take his hand. "Staring at a headstone with our names on it has reached a new level of weirdness."

Ron grunted. "Yeah… But what do we do now?"

Kim turned and sat down in one of the chairs. She reached up and pulled the strap loose and pulled the neck brace from around her neck. She slowly rolled her head from side to side sighing in pleasure as she felt a couple of pops.

"It feels so good to get rid of that thing."

Ron pulled off his and repeated her actions. "Yeah, let's just hope that your mom doesn't catch us without them on."

Kim giggled a little. "Yeah, but I can handle a little grounding. It's worth it to really be able to move."

Kim looked down at her hands as she fumbled with the brace. "So what do you want to do next Ron?"

He took her hands. "I thought we would go right back to school and finish out our Senior year."

Kim sighed. "That's sorta what I wanted to do too. But when I mentioned it to mom and dad, they were not all for it. Apparently there are still a lot of people who think we really killed those people, and that we just got off. Dad told me there have already been some threats of lawsuits to keep us out of school."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, mom and dad told me the same thing. But, I'll do whatever you want to do."

Kim shook her head with a wince as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "No Ron. WE decide TOGETHER what we are going to do. I don't want you following me, I want you beside me. So, what are WE going to do?" Kim's green eyes glistened.

Ron lifted his hand and lightly caressed her cheek. "We are going back to Middleton High, take our exams, and go to the final dance and then graduate."

Kim beamed. "You got that right!"

She then gave Ron a quick kiss, and glanced out over the damp landscape. "What are we going to do about the Seniors?"

A small grin crossed Ron's face. "Whatever I can do, whenever they need it. They saved us Kim, and they didn't have to."

She responded with a quick nod of her head. "I feel the same way. I was able to talk to Senor Senior, Sr. while we were in the hospital, and he told me the whole story. How he launched his own investigation and found out a few things. It wasn't long before he realized what was going on.

"It seems some weapons manufacturers made a deal with the Vietnamese government. They paid off a few people to get Drakken and Shego in there and working at that lab. That way if something went wrong, they could just walk away and disavow any responsibility. But they didn't count on us going in."

"When the lab blew, they knew that if they could make us the fall guys quickly, then no one would really take a closer look as to what was going on. They could also put pressure on certain others to keep them from taking a closer look. Well, Senor Senior Sr. took that closer look. When he found out what was going on he covertly contacted Dr. Director. She couldn't do anything at the time because she was being watched. That's when Sensei came into the deal with a clandestine meeting. Sensei contacted the Seniors secretly and made further arrangements. Yamanouchi sent in the people to blend in as guards, and Senor Sr. made the payoffs."

Kim then rubbed her neck. "But I still haven't found out how they rigged the execution to make it seem like we… died."

Ron took her hands. "Sensei told me a little just after we landed in the States. Apparently almost the entire execution detail had been replaced with Yamanouchi grads. You and I didn't know, but both of us were pricked with a needle as they were binding us. The needle prick injected a special poison into our blood stream, which would work within just a few seconds to relax us and make us look dead. When they placed the noose around your neck, do you remember them messing with that wrap around your chest?"

Kim nodded. "I thought they were just checking that everything was ready."

Ron rubbed his neck, recalling what Sensei had told him. "Well, they had woven a special heavy wire into the rope of the noose. They attached the wire to the wrap around your chest. That's what took most of our weight when we dropped through the gallows."

Kim snapped her head up to him. She winced and rubbed her neck, reminding herself mentally not to jerk her head around like that anytime soon. "Then why do our necks hurt so much?"

Ron reached over to caress her neck, garnering a moan from Kim's lips.

"They had to make it look good. They allowed the drop to be strong enough to look real, but not strong enough to break our necks. Our bodies were already relaxed by that time as well from the toxin, keeping us from getting hurt worse. I guess it's like if you're relaxed in a car accident, you don't get hurt as bad as if you're tensed up."

Kim shuddered as Ron continued.

"The drug also slowed our heart rates and respiration to the bare minimum so it seemed like we were… dead. The doctor who examined us and proclaimed us deceased was also a Yamanouchi grad. He and the others laid us in the coffins and carried us out to the ambulances. The loud buzzing we heard before they activated the trap doors was a special phone. It is only used to stop the executions. The whole charade had already been exposed and the call was to stop the execution. Unfortunately, the only person that Yamanouchi had not been able to replace was the man who was to pull the handle and open the trap door. He pulled when Tuong told him too."

Kim growled a little as Ron finished explaining.

"Tuong and a number of other officers where immediately arrested. But they won't stand trial. They were 'found' after apparently hanging themselves in their cells. Dr. Director told me that whoever was really behind it all covered their tracks and any links died with Tuong and his officers. We received pardons for everything except illegal entry and on those charges we were as you remember given suspended sentences and time already served. We'll need to be careful in that area from now on. If we are ever even close to their borders do not announce ourselves properly, our next visit will be an extended one."

"So why didn't Sensei tell me all of this as well?" Kim said, her temper rising.

"The only way Sensei could keep all of this information from leaking was to only tell one person in a secluded area where no one else would hear. If it got out in any way about this subterfuge, it would have all been for naught and we would just die at a later time. And… well… that one person was me. Plus, Sensei thought it would be best for you to hear all of this from me." Ron dropped his chin to his chest hoping that Kim would understand.

Kim placed a finger on his chin and lifted Ron's eyes to hers. "Sensei is indeed a wise man."

She then took a deep breath and continued. "I take it that the toxin wore off when we were on the plane. You know it would have been nice if someone had told our parents all this **before** we took off. We nearly gave our parents heart attacks."

They both laughed a little as they remembered the events on the plane.

* * *

Reaching down Anne caressed Kim's face. She sobbed as she continued to stroke Kim's face. "My baby, my poor little baby..."

Anne stopped for a moment when Kim's face moved. Her mind gibbered. Kim MOVED! Looking at Kim's eyelids she saw them start to twitch, and Anne's heart went to her throat as she watched her daughter's eyes slowly open and focus on her.

The sound of Kim's voice was too much for her. "How did I get here and why am I not dead?"

Anne's scream reverberated through the cabin of the plane. James jumped to catch his wife as she crumbled to the floor. Jean looked over at her in shock, and then looked down at her son to see him moving as well.

Ron rubbed his eyes before opening them. "Are there any Nacos here in heaven? I'm really hungry."

Dean had to catch his wife as she too crumbled to the floor.

Ron shook his head at the memory. "I don't think mom appreciated my humor at that point."

Kim punched him in the arm. "You're lucky she didn't put you back in the coffin for good.

Kim opened her eyes to the morning sun. She stretched out her arms and sighed. Today would be their first day back at school. During their incarceration, the Embassy had arranged for teachers to come to their cells so they were pretty much on tract. They would have to go to summer school to catch up on some other classes but otherwise everything should work out.

When she and Ron had decided to finish out the school year at school there had been some intense discussions. There had been threats of a number of lawsuits, but a group of attorneys came in and showered the school district with injunctions and countersuits. The school board met in special session a number of times to decide what to do and finally decided to allow the two of them to finish out the school year. That didn't stop some of the parents from protesting, and they both expected to have to walk through a gauntlet of reporters and protestors just to get to school.

Kim stood up and ran through a quick exercise and stretching routine before she made her way to the shower. She picked up the clothes she had laid out the night before. Glancing out her window she could see Ron's house in the distance. Even from inside her room she could see several news vans dotting the street. Shaking her head, she stepped into her bath to get ready for school.

James Possible laid down his paper as his daughter walked into the kitchen. Kim walked over to her mother standing at the stove cooking and gave a quick kiss. Walking over to her father, Kim gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

"Good Morning Mom, good morning Dad."

Her mother and father shared a nervous glance before her father forced a smile on his face.

"Good morning Kimmiecub. I hope you had a good night sleep."

Sleep was something that Kim had not been getting a lot of. She had to have the shades open and the doors to her room open. She had woken up the house a number of times with screams from a nightmare. Slowly the nightmares had faded but they still came every other night or so. It had just been in the past few days that they seem to have disappeared. They disappeared right after Kim and Ron had decided and gotten permission to go back to school.

Kim sat down at the table and started to put some bacon, eggs and toast on her plate. She was just about to pick up her fork when there was a commotion out front. The front door opened and Ron stepped in as a barrage of questions where hurled at him. The Middleton Police Department as well as a group of private security people hired by the Seniors had been stationed at the Stoppable house and the Possible house. Not one single person that wasn't on a very short list, got to be on either the Possible's or Stoppable property. Ron shook his head for a moment and stuck a finger in his ear as if to clear it. He walked into the kitchen.

"Good Morning Possible clan and the most beautiful girlfriend in the world."

He made his way over to Kim and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Ann smiled. At least some things were back to normal. Ron had gone out of his way to do a lot of the same things he had always done. It made is easier on the families and most of all Kim. A sense of normalcy, at least normal for the two of them, made things all the more easier.

"Good morning Ron. Would you like some breakfast?"

James grumbled. "Does he ever turn it down?"

They all looked as each other and laughed. James had said the same thing hundreds of times before but now, it just seemed so right. Ron quickly took a seat next to Kim.

"Don't mind if I do MrsDrP. I worked up a good hunger getting over here. Those news-guys out there have got nothing on the Upperton Defense. Those guys are relentless. We still on for walking to school today KP?"

Kim nodded. "Yep, just like we used to."

Ron was about to say something else but didn't. The two of them had decided on this also. They had come back, and now they were going back to school. If people had a problem with that then that was their problem, not any fault of the two of them.

Walking to school was something they had always enjoyed as friends. Now since they were boyfriend and girlfriend it meant so much more. Tim and Jim sat silently as they finished their own breakfast. They would not be going to school today as they had been suspended for fighting. Jim had a black eye on the right while Tim had one on the left. A group of students had made some comments about their sister and Ron. The two brothers had jumped straight into the fray without a thought. It was soon known that the two geniuses' could fight as well as they were smart. The fight the day before had involved several students who found out the hard way the twins would not back down. Kim had cried for a long time when the two of them were sent home. Later, after she had composed herself, she went quietly down to their room and gave each of them a kiss.

Kim finished up her breakfast and stood up. Ron quickly finished and stood beside her. They glanced at each other and forced a small smile.

Ron reached out and took her hand. "Let's ace this place."

Kim pulled him down for a quick kiss and picked up her backpack. They headed out of the door hand in hand. As soon as the door opened the yelling and shouting started. Anne joined James at the door as they watched the two of them walk up the street surrounded by the private security people. It would be a long and noisy walk to school.

Monique waited outside the main door to the school. Several students were still arriving and many others stood around outside. Everyone knew that today was the day. Today was the day that Kim and Ron were coming back to school. There were a number of protest groups just off school grounds, but the police had them across the street from the school. The police had also called in a little help and no one was allowed to follow Kim and Ron on the street. Everyone was limited to the sidewalks. These precautions cut down on the crowd considerably.

Looking up the street Kim could see the caravan of cameramen and reporters making their way slowly to the school. As the group reached school grounds the police forced the news people to stay off of school property. Then she could finally see her friends. They looked like they always had. The two of them stopped at the edge of the property and shared a quick kiss, just as they always had. The camera flashes filled the air as the two completed the kiss. Afterwards they stepped over the line onto school property and made their way toward her.

Kim broke out in a big smile when she saw Monique. "Hi Mon. It's good to see you."

Monique wrapped her arms around her friend. "It's good to see you too girlfriend. How are the two of you holding up?"

She then turned to Ron. "Sup boy? Still rooting for Pain King?"

Ron was about to answer when the bell rang. The intercom boomed on and Barkin's voice thundered across the school grounds.

"All right people get to class. Possible and Stoppable, please report to the office."

The three made their way into the school and walked up the hall. Monique kept going as they reached the office. Ron opened the door and let Kim go first into the office. Barkin opened the door to his office and motioned for them to come into his private office. He motioned for them to take the two seats in front of his desk and closed the door as they sat down. Making his way to his chair, he took a seat, opened a file that was on his desk and looked at the two teens.

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, as you know, most of the charges against you were dismissed by the Government of Vietnam. The only remaining charge was that of entering the country illegally. You were given sentences of time served and asked to leave the country. As all your legal obligations have been served, the district decided to allow you to return to school. I am required by the school board to inform you of certain terms of you being allowed to remain at this school."

Barkin hesitated then shut the file and placed his face in his hands. "Kim, Ron, I'll just dump the legal crap. Keep your noses super clean and out of trouble. I know there are a few students and not a few parents that did not want you here under any terms. But, you have a right to an education and you have a right to attend this school. I have discussed your return with the student body and made it known that ANYONE that tries to make trouble will face disciplinary action that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Now, I am sorry that you will not be able to participate in any extracurricular activities."

Kim tightened her grip on Ron's hand. "We understand Mr. Barkin, and we really don't mind. All we want to do is finish out the year and graduate. But we do have one question. The Senior Dance is coming up and we would like to attend."

Barkin stared back at the two of them. "I have the discretion to allow you to participate in certain events if I feel that you would benefit from attendance to that event. I believe that the Senior Dance would qualify for such an allowance. Now, while I will allow you to attend, I can't do anything about the reactions of the other students."

Ron nodded. "That's okay Mr. B. We understand and we thank you."

Barkin nodded. "Okay, both of you get to class. The secretary will have your hall passes. Get to class."

Kim and Ron stood and left his office. Barkin waited until the two of them had picked up their passes from the secretary and left the office before he stood up. He walked to the window of his office and looked out the window. Outside of his office the phone rang and the secretary answered it.

"Mr. Barkin? I am sorry but he is unavailable at this time. No, I don't know when he will be available. May I take a message?"

Barkin glanced out his open door and mouthed a silent thank you to her.

Kim and Ron entered the cafeteria together and got in line. Several of the students got out of line and took a seat until the two of them had finished with the line. Other student hurried to join Kim and Ron in the line and spoke to them like nothing was going on. When they took some seats at a table, some of the students at the neighboring tables got up and moved to other tables. Yet there were a number of students that remained or moved to the table where the two of them were sitting.

Kim tried to ignore the whispers while taking a shower after gym. She knew that a majority of the bruises she received from the beatings were still visible. The bruise around her neck was the most noticeable. Tara had gotten sick the first time she had seen Kim's back and neck. Bonnie had started to make something of it until she found a little note in her locker warning her of a fall down the stairs that might come her way if she opened her mouth. Some of the guys had mumbled behind Ron's back as he changed. His torso was still covered in welts and bruises. Felix and Josh helped Ron with his shirt when the pain was too great.

The teachers were no different than the student body. Some went out of their way to act as if nothing had ever happened. Others seemed to be walking on eggshells around the two of them. None of the teachers were openly hostile to either of them, but a few made their displeasure of the couple's presence known in their classes by either ignoring them, or making it a point to ask the two of them questions on information that had been covered while they were going through the trial. Luckily, both of them had studied the material beforehand.

Kim sighed in relief as the two of them finally walked off school grounds. Even walking into the waves of reporters and cameramen was preferable to facing what was going on at the school. She gripped Ron's arm tightly as they headed for Kim's home. They had discussed that no matter what happened, they would not make waves and would cooperate to the best of their ability. Right now the dance was two days away and that meant more than anything else. They would go to the dance, graduate, and face a new life. Tara, Josh, Monique, Felix, and Zita had presented Kim and Ron with tickets to the dances and a gift certificate to one of the better local restaurants.

Kim and Ron entered the gym when the dance was in full swing. The music died as everyone turned to see the couple coming in through the door. There was some murmuring, and muted curses as the two of them stood just inside the door. As the crowd slowly approached both of them, some broke away and went up to Kim and Ron. Others formed a line blocking them from entering any further. A few yells came from the back.

"Go home!" And "Killers!" Echoed in the gymnasium, along with, "Go back to where you came from!" "I hope do they do the job right the next time!"

Kim looked around and started to tear up a little before speaking to the crowd. "Please… everyone. Could we please come in? We just want to join you in a few dances and spend some time with all our friends."

Another voice came from the back. "The big heroes aren't heroes anymore, why should we?"

Kim looked out over the throngs of students.

"Is that what this is all about? You think we want to come here because we think we are special or something? When did we ask any of you to do anything special for either one of us?"

Ron stepped beside her.

"Do you want to punish us because of what we did? That this gives you a chance to take us down a notch? We did what we did because people needed us, and it was something we could do together. We didn't ask for any special treatment, and we didn't think that we were special."

Kim took his hand and continued.

"All we would like to do is have one dance. If you want, we will leave after that. But please? Can we have this one dance? We have gone to school with some of you for twelve years. Can't you grant us this favor, for old time sake, for friendship, or just for no reason at all?"

The group had stood silently as the two of them spoke. Some muttering was heard as the group slowly parted allowing them in. Kim and Ron made their way to the dance floor and noticed that no one else was joining them.

Then Monique's voice came from the DJ's booth, as she had commandeered the microphone. "Kim… Ron, we can't change the past, and can only face the future. A lot of your friends would like to thank you for what you have done over the years. I've picked out a song for you; it's the one you two had practiced for the dance contest that you missed. I would like to ask everyone to let this couple have this dance for themselves. They have never asked anything of any of us, so I think they deserve this one dance to themselves."

Kim faced Ron as he took her in his arms. A slight tear fell down her face as she looked around the room. The notes of the music started, and the two of them moved to the music. As they danced, the two really listened to the lyrics for the first time, smiling at each other.

"Come stop your cryin'  
and we'll be alright  
Just take my hand, hold it tight.  
I will protect from all around you,  
I will be here don't you cry."

Ron reached up with one hand and wiped a tear from Kim's face. She grabbed his hand and held it to her face.

"For one so small, you seem so strong.  
My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm,  
This bond between us can't be broken,  
I will be here, don't you cry."

The two of them started to move with the music, looking into each other's eyes, ignoring all others. A small smile started to creep across Kim's face.

"'Cos you'll be in my heart,  
yes, you'll be in my heart,  
From this day on now and forever more."

Kim spun under Ron's arm, her dress flaring up as she twirled. Ron held her close as he pulled her back into an embrace, and a smile started to cross his face that matched hers. Everyone continued to watch as the two of them seem to gain strength from the music.

"You'll be in my heart,  
No matter what they say,  
You'll be here in my heart,  
Always."

Bonnie and some of the others stood off to the side watching, waiting for the "charade" to be over with, yet as they continued to watch the words of the song started to touch them. They watched as their two classmates continued to dance.

They thought back over the months and years, thinking of all the grief that they had given the two of them. They were the two most different people in the school, but also the two that seemed to be drawn together. Kim and Ron were right in what they had said. They had never asked a single favor from any of the students, but gave favors without question when one of them was in need.

The two teens began to move freer, faster. Each of them was sporting a wide smile. The small limps that both had displayed earlier when walking into the gym had disappeared. Their arms and legs seemed to have taken on lives of their own, and he two of them were in a world of themselves. While they may have had their differences, their love was greater now than ever before.

"Why can't they understand the way we feel,  
They just don't trust what they can't explain.  
I know we're different but  
Deep inside us, we're not that different at all."

Kim held Ron's arms as they spun together out on the floor. She looked up into those eyes and lost her self into the depths of those big brown eyes.

"And you'll be in my heart,  
yes, you'll be in my heart,  
From this day on now and forever more."

Monique almost held her breath as she watched her two friends dance the dance of their lives. The two of them were completely into the music. The lyrics seemed to have given their beaten and bruised bodies a new life.

"Don't listen to them, 'cos what do they know.(what do they know)  
We need each other, to have to hold.  
They'll see in time, I know."

Kim and Ron held onto each other. Their lives passed before their eyes as they continued to spin out on the floor. Call it what you want… the missions, school, their lives… all came together for this moment. They would not always be together physically, but in their hearts, no matter what the trial may be, they would be together. Kim spun away from Ron as he moved the other direction, continuing to move as they had practiced so long ago.

"When destiny calls you, you must be strong  
(you gotta be strong)  
I may not be with you, but you got to hold on.  
They'll see in time, I know."

Both of them stopped for a moment while apart, and as Ron turned to face Kim she broke into a run straight at him. Just at the crescendo of the music, she leapt up into his arms. He caught her slim waist and lifted her high into the air. Kim arched her back as he lifted her up. She had never felt so close to Ron as she did now.

"We'll show them together 'cos"

Ron held her in the air as he continued to spin under her. Kim's auburn mane spilled out into the air, shining in the lights of the gym.

"You'll be in my heart,  
Believe me,  
You'll be in my heart.  
I'll be there from this day on,  
now and forever more."

"Ooh you'll be in my heart  
(you'll be here in my heart)  
No matter what they say  
(I'll be with you)  
You'll be here in my heart  
(I'll be there)  
Always"

They slowly came to a stop with Ron standing behind Kim, his arms around her.

"Always  
I'll be with you,  
I'll be there for you always  
Always and always.  
Just look over your shoulder

Just look over your shoulder

Just look over your shoulder  
I'll be there always."

Kim looked back over her shoulder to see Ron looking at her. She twisted her head with a grin to see him lean the other way so that he could still see into her eyes. They traded glances back and forth until Kim pushed her back away from him and turned around to face him. She slowly raised her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

They stood there for a few seconds as the last strains of the music died, and for a few moments there was total silence in the room. Then someone started to clap, then another, then another. Soon cheers and whistles joined the applause that filled the room. Kim and Ron looked out at the crowd and blushed slightly. Then over the noise of the room came a distinctive sound that had not been heard for a long time.

"Be beep be beep"

Ron looked at Kim and she smiled sheepishly. "I sorta brought it for old time sake."

"Be beep be beep"

By now the tone was almost sounding insistent

"Be beep be beep"

Ron pointed at the device Kim had pulled from the pocket of her dress. "Don't you think you should answer that?"

Kim hesitated for a few seconds more.

"Be beep be beep"

Finally Kim pressed the button and Dr. Director came on the screen, along with Wade.

"Greetings Team Possible." Dr. Director said. "I know that I am about the last person you wish to see right now. However, we have a… situation that needs your experience, and we need your help. I…I would understand if you …you declined."

Kim reached up and pushed the hair from in front of her face. Ron took her hand and nodded. She glanced at the screen. "We are in. Go ahead and send us our ride, please and thank-you."

Dr. Director's smile spread across her face. "Agent Price will be there in ten minutes. Kim, Ron, I personally thank you."

The screen winked off as she signed off. Kim and Ron stood there looking at each other for a few seconds before Ron looked around. "Well, I guess we need to get Wade to send us some mission clothes."

A gruff voice suddenly sounded from the side of the room. "There's no need for that Stoppable."

Mr. Barkin stepped from the shadows carrying two mission backpacks. Kim and Ron recognized them as the ones they had kept in their lockers. Barkin smiled as he stepped up to them and handed each of them their respective packs.

"The District Administrators told me to dispose of these items, but I thought you just might need them again."

Kim smiled up at the large man who seemed to have a small tear in his eye. "Thank-you Mr. Barkin."

The Mr. Barkin that Kim and Ron knew and loved returned in a flash as the gruff exterior quickly returned. "You only got about eight minutes to get ready, so you need to move."

Kim and Ron shared a quick glance, and then each turned and ran for a restroom. Within a few minutes of entering, they both came running out in their mission gear. Kim was in her purple shirt and black pants with the purple stripe, and Ron was wearing his black shirt with gray cargo pants.

Neither of them noticed that the room was now empty as they approached the exit, and as they went out the door, a wall of cheers greeted them. Outside most of the students were lined up in two lines forming a corridor out to the field they always took off from.

Several other people from Middleton were there as well. Officer Hobble and a large portion of the Middleton officers stood at attention, saluting as they came down the steps. Looking down the corridor of people, Kim and Ron saw their parents standing at the end of the lines. More and more people were running up cheering and applauding as they made their way down the two lines of people heading for the field. Ron stepped over to give Tara a hug while Kim did the same to Josh. Each of them stopped to shake a hand or give another student a hug. When they reached the end of the line they had to face their parents.

Kim looked up at her dad. "Daddy, I know that you wanted me to give this up… but this is what I am. It's what I do."

Ron stepped to her side and faced his own parents. "Mom, dad, what can I say?"

Anne stepped forward a little. "Kim, Ron, as much as that's happened recently, we can't stop you from being yourselves. We may not like it any more than before, but you have to be what and who you are. Just be careful." They all joined in a hug as a GJ hoverjet came in over the trees and landed in the field.

As Kim and Ron broke away from the group, James reached out and grabbed Ron's hand. "Take care of her Ronald."

Ron smiled at his girlfriend's father. "I plan to MrDrP."

Ron turned and joined hands with Kim as they ran toward the hoverjet. A side door slid open to reveal none other than Dr. Director standing there. Just before they climbed in, Kim and Ron noticed Mr. Barkin standing out from the crowd. He was standing rigidly at attention and saluting. They stopped for a moment then ran back to him. Kim wrapped her arms around him the best she could, as Ron stopped and returned the salute.

Kim shouted up at him over the roar of the hoverjet. "You are the best Mr. Barkin."

She motioned for him to bend down and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The mammoth former marine blushed as he straightened back up, glanced over at Ron and then back at Kim.

"Stoppable, Possible, you two take care of each other, or you will have to answer to me."

Kim and Ron grinned and nodded at him as they turned and ran for the waiting hoverjet. Mr. Barkin saluted again as the craft lifted off into the night air and flew off into the blackness.

* * *

Dr. Director pulled the collar of her dress uniform open. It was over. She dropped a folder on the desk in her office. She rubbed her head wishing for the headache to go away. But, her headache was the least of her problems. She glanced down at the folder on the desk. The type of the cover was clear.

'Court Martial of Agent William Augustus Du'

She sat down at her desk and stared at the folder, her mind going back to the proceedings. The trial had been mercifully short, for him and for her personally. It was only the actions of Agent Price that there was not another folder with her name on it. But she was still the boss and Du was her 'top' agent. He had caused tremendous damage to Global Justice by his actions. It would be a long time before the security groups would fully trust her and her organization. She sat back in her seat and remembered the final minutes of the trail and remembered the words she had spoken earlier in the day.

"_Agent William Augustus Du, you have been found guilty of dereliction of duty, falsifying reports, withholding intelligence data all nearly causing the death of fellow agents. You allowed your personal feelings to guide your actions and malice and forethought changed, withheld or otherwise damaged intelligence data with the intent that said damage would allow other agents to be captured, tortured and nearly killed. You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in the appropriate facility."_

Betty did not speak those words without some pain to herself. She had trusted this person. He was a good capable agent. But, he also had a dangerous ego that allowed him to do things she thought was incapable of him doing. He was nearly responsible for the deaths of two people that she highly respected, who were guilty of only one thing, and that was they were better than he was.

She turned and opened the file drawer to her desk and placed the file in a folder. Reaching into another part of the file drawer she pulled another file from the drawer and placed it on her desk. This file had her name on it. Inside was the review she had to endure over the affair. She wanted to go over parts of the report with her attorney to see what he would suggest to lessen any more damage to the organization she loved.

After she finished with her file, she had to go visit a couple of special prisoners deep within the bowels of the complex. During her tenure at Global Justice, she had seen some surprising things. But what had happened days after Kim and Ron's incredible escape from certain death surprised even her. First, there was a phone call from Senor Senior Sr. That was not a complete surprise as he had been in contact with her after he helped with the rescue of Kim and Ron. He told her a certain couple of persons would be arriving at one of the GJ safe houses. The two persons were willing to turn themselves in if GJ would protect them.

The two persons turned out to be none other that Drakken and Shego. The two had to flee Vietnam when the whole affair was exposed. Now their lives were worth nothing. First, the Secret Service of Vietnam wanted their hides on the wall. Another factor was that the people who arranged the entire affair would be much happier with the two of them dead. The fact that Senor Senior Sr. had placed a very large bounty on their heads and that Sensei had sent most of the senior class of ninjas out looking for them, each of them itching for the honor of vengeance for what had been done to the Chosen One and Kim. Finally, Kim and Ron were out, free and recovering. Nobody in the world wanted to have a shot at them more than the two who suffered the most.

Drakken and Shego had revealed just about all of their secret lairs, their hidden accounts and had turned over all the research and weapons they had developed. Now they were living within a secure section of the headquarters. They would stay there at least for awhile until something could be done. Dr. Directors smiled to herself. It was clear that Drakken and Shego were more afraid of Kim and Ron than anyone else. In Dr. Director's opinion, they would suffer more from fear than any prison could ever force on them.

* * *

Various News Articles appeared several months later…

_It was announced today that Kim Possible will acting as the main judge at the Intercollegiate Cheerleading Competition, she will then attend the Leadership Camp as an instructor. Following the Camp she will work with the last year's Intercollegiate Cheerleading championship team as a special instructor…_

_Team Possible was honored by the Prime Minister of Japan for their work…_

_Ron Stoppable was named to the development board of Bueno Nacho. The developer of the Naco was…._

Then, six months later…

_Mr. and Mrs. James Possible of Middleton, Colorado are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Kimberly Anne, to Ronald Dean Stoppable, son of Dean and Jean Stoppable of Middleton, Colorado. Ms. Possible attends Upperton University, where she is studying International Relations. Mr. Stoppable is attending Upperton University as well, studying the Culinary Arts Program. A June wedding is planned._

Two hearts together, two souls refined by the fires of life, two lives bound together, will be forevermore side by side, just as they always have and will be. Two hearts seared by trials seldom seen or experienced… will be joined together, each within the heart of the other. Side by side, in love and in hope, even when all hope is lost.

Well, that is it. It is hard to believe that we are finished with this story. It has taken a long time and most of it is my fault. I got behind on some other stories and I just couldn't concentrate on helping with this one. The idea for the story is one of my originals. Yep, this one has been lying around the Captain's mind and notes for nearly 5 years. I had a few chapters ready when Whitem mentioned something about a story on similar lines. We got together and decided to do this story. Overtime, we put the story together and starting writing.

Then real life got in the way. I know I had a hard time keeping things going for the story. I have to thank Whitem for his patience. I know that I tested it to the limits. Thanks pal for joining with me for this story. I feel it was a good one.

The song is from a Disney movie. "You'll be in My Heart" came from Tarzan.

Thanks to all of you for hanging with the two of us. Please leave a review for the chapter and the story.

Captainkodak1

Whitem

The voting for the Fannies has been restarted. Check out the thread in Zaratan's Forum.


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